All The Difference
by KibaCanLickMe
Summary: How much of the Naruto universe changes when Obito survives the cave in? Does Minato survive too? What about Itachi? What happens to the sand siblings? Various pairings, will cover most of Naruto characters, even minor ones.
1. To Change A Belief

A/N: A lot of this dialogue was pulled from the manga, which may be the case for the next chapter too, but after that it shouldn't happen anymore because the story will diverge from cannon.

Also, I don't own Naruto and sadly I'm not making any money off of this. I just wrote it for fun.

Chapter 1 – To Change a Belief

"The most important thing to a shinobi is to be a tool in order to complete the mission. Emotions are unnecessary things."

Obito blinked his ebony eyes and stared incredulously into Kakashi's grey ones. The boy had to be kidding, right? Rin was captured, he and Kakashi were the young kunoichi's teammates and they should be on their way to save her right now. As fellow shinobi of the Leaf, members of the same genin cell, and most of all, as her friends, Obito and Kakashi should already be on route to perform a most heroic rescue. Which would no doubt bring about Rin's complete appreciation and admiration for her knights in shining hitai-ite, complete with numerous thank you's and adoring kisses, followed by devoted declarations of love from the most beautiful member of "Team Yellow Flash". So why in the hell was Kakashi even contemplating leaving their delicate teammate in the hands of the enemy?

"Are you serious? Do you seriously think like that?"

Kakashi stared unmoving at his useless counterpart. The mission came first. Every shinobi worth their salt knew that, it was ninja 101, basic knowledge, even children in the academy were aware of it. Everything else, lucky charms, friends, lovers, teammates, family; they were all distractions, as far as he was concerned. Of course they were all important, but there was a time and a place for caring about them, and in the middle of a mission was certainly not it.

If there was anything Kakashi had learned from the emotionally crippling suicide of Konoha's White Fang, it was that nothing should ever be more important than the mission. Visions of his father's crimson blood puddled around his slightly blue and hardened corpse had seared into the young boys' memory the cost of such distractions. Sakumo's disgrace was a constant reminder to his son that sometimes what was most important for Konoha was not what you believed to be the most important in your heart. That was why during a mission Kakashi knew to leave his heart at home. Unfortunately, Obito still needed to learn that lesson, because he was still foolishly dragging his along with them.

"Yes. That's right." Kakashi said coldly. "Our mission is the destruction of the bridge. Nothing matters until we do that. Including Rin."

Obito's jaw dropped, and then hardened as his disbelief turned to shock turned to outrage. There was no way Obito was leaving Rin behind at the mercy of enemy shinobi. Kakashi was out of his mind if he thought he could force Obito to abandon the sweetest girl he'd ever met, and the kindest member of their genin cell. "I'm going to rescue Rin."

"I'm the leader of this team Uchiha. I'm the one who gives the orders, and _you're _the one who follows them. Even if you're supposed to be the "elite" ninja, _I'm_ the one who made jounin, so you have to listen to me. If you let your emotions run free and fail your mission, you'll regret it in the future. Because of that, the rule was decided that a shinobi must kill his emotions. You must understand that too."

"Rin, "Obito growled, "gave you that medical pack and healed your injury out of concern for you, and now you have none for her."

"Those were necessary for the success rate of the mission, bud didn't I already tell you if you receive unnecessary things they just become excess baggage?"

Obito scowled and spat at the feet of his grey haired teen leader. "I believe that the White Fang is a true hero. Of course those in the ninja world who break the rules and regulations are called trash. But those who don't care about their companions are even worst then trash. And I'll break the rules if it means saving my comrades. If that's not being a true shinobi then I'll crush that idea of shinobi."

Kakashi watched as Obito ran off in search of their teammate, the Uchiha's words echoing in his ears. "_The White Fang is a true hero… true hero… the White Fang… White Fang… the White Fang is… is… is a true hero… true hero… hero_." Obito couldn't know what he was saying, could he? "_The white Fang is a true hero… a true hero_…" Sakumo had died in disgrace. Konoha's "White Fang" nothing but a useless and broken tool, right? There was nothing heroic in that. Right? "_The White Fang is a true hero_." Was it possible? Could the idolization of his father that Kakashi had carried throughout his youth have been right? Was the man he'd held in such high regard actually worthy of his son's admiration and respect? If he was, then Obito was right, and Rin was more important than the bridge.

Kakashi was torn. What should he do? On one hand, the one that his brain was arguing was the right choice, the bridge was his mission, and his mission was important to Konoha. But on the other hand, the one directly connected to his heart, was Rin, his teammate and his friend, the girl who loved and cared for him, and patched him up every time he made the mistake of falling apart. Could he leave her behind to be tortured or worse? "_Before we separate, I'll say it again. The most important thing to a shinobi is teamwork." _ Minato sensei's crawled into the young jounin's head. How could there be any teamwork for Team Yellow Flash if Kakashi let both his teammates behind? Obito was right, and he, Kakashi, was worse than trash. But maybe there was still time and he could still manage to help Obito save their teammate? Kami knew Obito was too much of an idiot to do it on his own.


	2. A Different Legend Begins

Chapter 2 – A Different Legend Begins

Minato eyed the scorched earth of the battlefield. The once lushly forested area was now barren, or it would be once the smoke dissipated and the bodies and their pieces were cleared from the landscape. The air stunk of sulfur, lightning, and loosened bowels, as only a battle ground filled with shinobi can. Shinobi, Minato thought, are the most destructive force in the universe; capable of destroying or creating mountain with just tiny finger flashes nothing on earth could cause as much damage. A memory of Tsunade-hime demolishing a four story building with a flick of her index finger during one of his early missions with Jiraiya-sensei suddenly came to him and he wished for a moment that she was here with him. Heck, he wished any of the Sannin were here, even the chill inducing Orochimaru, because if any of them were present he wouldn't have to be. He could instead be with his precious students, protecting them from harm.

Minato knew that Kakashi was a capable jounin. The boy was an exceptional shinobi, a genius, and Minato had complete faith in him as a ninja. But this was the first time Team Yellow Flash had been split up and he was having some separating anxiety. What if Obito refused to follow Kakashi's orders? What if Rin succumbed to her daydreams of Kakashi, as she had been prone to do as a genin, and failed to notice an enemy ninja? What if Kakashi decided to ignore his warning and used the as of yet incomplete chidori again? That was just crazy. Minato shook the worries from his mind. Obito would listen, Rin hadn't behaved so childishly in years, and Kakashi knew better. Right now he needed to focus on the battle in front of him, not the one miles away. If he didn't succeed in providing a distraction his team wouldn't be able to blow the bridge, and that would be disastrous.

OxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxO

Kakashi was getting closer to the location of his teammates. He could smell that they were less than 100 feet away, and as he came abreast of the next hill, he noticed Obito squatting in the branches of a large oak tree peering into the cave that must contain Rin. What he also noticed, that Obito obviously didn't was the stone ninja hiding behind the well intentioned Uchiha. There was no time for a warning, the rock shinobi was moving in for the kill. With all the speed he could summon Kakashi pulled Sakumo's chakra blade and hurled himself at Obito's attacker. The lunge, lacking the usual precision and grace Hatake Kakashi was known for, failed to be a killing blow yet managed to knock the man down and prevent him from injuring the Uchiha.

"Kakashi? What are you doing here?" Obito sputtered out. Had Kakashi really just saved his life? Obito was torn between being grateful that his head was still attached to his body and disappointed that he needed saving again.

"I couldn't leave a cry baby like you to save Rin all by yourself."

The stone ninja perched on a tree branch across from them had recovered from the blow and was now leering at the leaf ninja.

"Impossible…. Konoha's White Fang?" the enemy shinobi gaped.

"That's my father."

At Kakashi's admission the stone nin smirked wickedly and then disappeared. Kakashi could neither see, hear, nor smell him. Obito looked around nervously, and suddenly Kakashi could smell their assailant. Right behind Obito!

"Obito! Behind you!" Kakashi threw his body at his teammate to knock him out of the way, inadvertently putting himself directly in line with the man's attack. His kunai cut through Kakashi's left eyelid and into the delicate orb beneath it. White hot searing pain shot through Kakashi's nerve receptors.

"Gyaah! My eye!" Kakashi's left hand flew up to cradle his eye socket, while his right found its way to the kunai his sensei had presented him with just a day earlier and flung it at his would be executioner. Obito looked at Kakashi in shock. He'd just lost his eye saving Obito yet again. Why did he always need saving? Wasn't he a ninja too? Why wasn't he capable of even the basic concepts? Staying alive should have been second nature to a ninja. Sure he talked big, yelling about how he was going to save Rin, but he'd already been saved twice and hadn't managed to do a thing. If Kakashi hadn't been there he would already be dead, and Rin right along with him. Why was he so useless? He was just a loud mouthed loser, incapable of saving anyone. But… _I believe that the White Fang is a true hero… those who don't save their companions are even worse than trash…. _His own words came back to echo through his brain. He didn't want them to be just words anymore. With all the determination he possessed Obito turned back to the battle.

"Die!" he shouted as he attacked the enemy ninja.

Kakashi watched as Obito ran his kunai through the still invisible ninja. The now gutted man quickly winked back into sight as he slumped to the ground on his knees. "How? I shouldn't… be seen," he gasped. "Those eyes?"

Kakashi looked up out of his right eye to see Obito's iris's turned crimson, with two tomoe revolving around the center pupil.

"You're eyes Obito!"

Obito stared ahead in amazement. "Yeah, it seems like the sharingan. I can see the chakra moving and flowing around."

OxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxO

In the middle of the shunshin no jutsu Minato felt the surge of chakra that would alert him to the use of Kakashi's kunai. If their mission was going smoothly they should have just blown the bridge and gotten out of there. Kakashi shouldn't have had to use the kunai. Something was wrong, he could feel it. He had to finish here quickly. His team needed him.

OxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxO

Kakashi and Obito entered the cave to see Rin crouched on her knees, her hands tied behind her back. Cuts and bruises mottled her face where she must have been beaten in attempts to get information about their mission. A lone enemy ninja stood beside her smirking at the two leaf shinobi, believing them to be harmless children. It was a shame for him that his assumption was incorrect. Obito's newly acquired sharingan whirled and he moved quicker then anyone's eyes could see to knock his opponent across the span of the cave, easily allowing Kakashi to cut the rope binding their teammate. Apparently too easily.

"Now you're right in my hands. Dolon iwo Yado Kuzushi!"

Suddenly the rocks inside the cave began falling from the ceiling. Rin, Kakashi, and Obito began to run for the exit, avoiding the stones as they fell around them. Unable to see out of his left eye Kakashi felt a blow to the side of his head and crumpled to the hard rock floor. Dust and debris clouded the air around them as larger and larger stones dislodged from the cave ceiling.

Obito looked up to see a large boulder about to land on Kakashi's sprawled out body. Without concern for his own safety Obito pushed Kakashi out of the way just as the rock crushed his own body beneath it.

OxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxO

Minato flashed from the battlefield, rushing to the aid of his most precious people, a growing feeling of dread spreading through his entire being, hoping against hope that he wasn't too late.

OxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxO

"Kakashi? Rin? Are you okay?' Obito gasped.

"Obito!" Kakashi screamed as the dust settled and he was able to take in the sight of his comrade stuck beneath the largest rock he'd ever seen. He ran to the boulder, gripping the jagged edge and futilely straining his muscles in an attempt to lift the enormous stone.

"Kakashi stop. It's ok. That's enough. Its over for me. My body is smashed."

"Obito! No!" Rin sobbed. "Why? You're going to be okay. We're going to get you out of here. It's going to be ok. We'll get you back to the hospital and Tsunade-hime is going to fix you up. Stop saying things like that."

Kakashi dropped to his knees and beat his fists against the floor. "This is my fault. If I'd just gone with you when you said we should go rescue Rin this wouldn't have happened. I'm the leader and I've failed. What kind of leader am I? What kind of jounin? I don't even deserve to be one."

"Stop Kakashi. Please. That's not true. Come here. I'm the only one who didn't give you a present at your jounin celebration. I was thinking… what would be good? And now I know… don't worry; it's not useless baggage, Kakashi. It's this sharingan of mine. The people of the village must be saying that you're a great jounin and that's how I feel too. Please accept it. Rin use your medical jutsu. Take it out and put it in Kakashi's left eye. The one he lost saving me."

Rin wiped the tears from her face, instantly all business. "Come here Kakashi. We have to do this quickly."

Minato arrived at the scene to see two of his students huddled around a giant boulder. Rocks precariously perched around them, ready to begin falling on their precious heads. What were they doing? Why didn't they get out of there? And then he saw it. Obito pinned under a gigantic rock, an excessive amount of blood dripping down his face. Shit! There was no way he could lift that monstrosity. Once again he wished for the presence of Tsunade-hime, and then he got an idea.

"Kakashi!" he shouted down into the collapsed hole. "Chidori! Rin get out of there!"

"I'm not fast enough sensei. I won't be able to get him out in time. The smaller rocks will crush him anyway," the young jounin looked up at Minato, mismatched eyes filled with anguish and despair.

"Do what I say Kakashi! And do it now!"

Kakashi loudly drew breath through his nose, and composed himself. With a mission to accomplish and orders given to him again he could focus his mind again. He was a jounin of the great hidden village of Konoha, and he needed to act like it. He nodded at Rin who took off running for the exit. He concentrated his chakra in the palm of his hand, drawing more and more through the tenketsu; the sound of a thousand birds filled the small cave. Lightning fast, Kakashi floated over the crumbling rocks as he brought his fist in contact with the offending piece of rubble. Chidori cleaved through the center of the rock, splitting it into two pieces that began to fall. And even as Kakashi was watching, the helpless Obito be crushed beneath them his body vanished, and then he too was abruptly removed from the cave.


	3. A Pervert's Beginning

A/N: Sorry this one is so short; the next chapter will cover a lot more. Please leave me a review if you like it, and even if you don't let me know why, or how I can make it better. Thanks!

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

Jiraiya watched interestedly as Minato's student paced up and down the hospitals narrow corridor. His black pants and jounin vest were covered in grey dust, the result of barely surviving a cave in, crimson spatters marred what little bit of the young man's face could be seen, as the lower half was hidden by a mask and the left side covered by blood soaked bandages. His steps were quick and determined, like he had a definite destination in mind, and even though it was always just back to the other end of the hall he'd just come from, he looked like a man with a purpose. Unfortunately, as far as Jiraiya could see, his purpose seemed to be the irrational desire to wear holes in the hallway floor. Kakashi was clearly worried out of his mind and had not yet developed a way to deal with it. The constant sound of his shoes scuffling against the floor as he continued his endless ping ponging journey was slowly driving Jiraiya insane.

On top of that, the usually cheery, female member of Minato's squad had taken up residence in an ancient wheelchair she'd found rotting in the back of some forgotten storage closet, where she was currently curled up and sobbing into her knees. Always a sensitive girl, it seemed that today had been too much for her, and her emotions had completely run away from her. Jiraiya noticed the cuts covering her skinny arms and shins, the bruises beginning to form on her kind angelic face, and wished the perpetrators of the crime were standing in front of him so he could properly punish them for such an atrocity. Nobody should make Rin cry.

Minato had asked him to watch over his young team for him while he ran home to check on his recently recovering wife. It would seem the almost life ending threat to one of his precious students had made the young man extra concerned about his own family, and Kushina had been very ill when Team Yellow Flash had left for their mission. And Jiraiya could understand that, really he could, and certainly he could understand the turmoil his two young companions were going through, Kami could tell you how many times he had sat in this very hallway waiting for news about Tsunade or Orochimaru, but damn it all to hell he couldn't tell you which was worse; the never ceasing tapping and scratching of Kakashi's boots or the incoherent babbling from the sobbing kunoichi that occasionally sounded like, "it's all my fault," or "such a worthless shinobi." The toad sage resolved to do something about it before he was forced to kill the both of them, or much worse himself.

As Kakashi spun around to start his next trek down the long fluorescently lit corridor Jiraiya stepped out in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. "Kakashi, why don't you try to calm down and relax a little bit? The Uchiha's have already sent over a replacement for his eye, Tsunade-hime is in there with him, and we haven't heard any loud swearing so I'm sure he's going to be fine. She's the best medic in all the hidden villages. You have nothing to worry about boy."

Kakashi stared blankly up at Jiraiya, never uttering a word. Grief contorted his face, and the toad sage thought the young boy might burst into tears from which he would forever be embarrassed by.

"Here, take this," he said, handing the teenager a thin orange book. "I just finished writing this. It's a first edition. Hours and hours of research went into the crafting of this fine piece of literature, and I'm sure you are going to love it. Go ahead, take it, enjoy it, it's yours. I'll even sign it for you when you tell me how much you like it."

Kakashi's right eye blinked slowly up at Jiraiya as he continued his blank stare, and even though he was now holding the book in his hands, the rest of his gangly body looked to be making no attempt at any motion, to read the book or otherwise. "At least he hasn't started pacing again," thought Jiraiya.

"Here, come on over here," Jiraiya soothed, as he herded Kakashi toward the decrepit wheelchair occupied by Rin. "Rin, why don't you go clean yourself up a bit and head down to the cafeteria. I could really use a cup of coffee. Would you mind picking one up for me?" He felt a little guilty using the knowledge that the poor girl would never refuse a request to help someone else to further his own agenda, but it was just a _little._

Wide glassy red eyes peeked out at him from behind a pair of scraped boney knees, and Rin's bottom lip began to quiver. The Sannin wondered if she was going to break out in tears again and silently thanked Kami when she instead attempted to quiet her sniffling and managed to choke out, "O-okay, J-j-Jiraiya-sa-sama. D-do you w-want sh-sh-sugar and cream?"

"I definitely do Rin. Light and sweet please, just like you," he answered. "Why don't you get something for yourself too? An d maybe something from the gift shop for Obito? Balloons maybe? Or a teddy bear?"

Jiraiya handed off a generous amount of cash to the suffering girl and guided Kakashi into the abandoned wheelchair. Rin's trudged down the hallway, her shoes occasionally squeaking against the worn linoleum, and Jiraiya turned his gaze back to the skinny grey haired jounin. As Kakashi was already turning the third page, Jiraiya leaned against the wall and breathed a sigh of relief, they were going to be okay, and he wasn't going to have to kill anyone today.


	4. The Healing Starts

A/N: I don't pretend to know much about surgery or bones, or have any ocular knowledge but I tried my best to describe what I thought was going on. If you know better and can correct any biological inconsistencies I may have included, please feel free to correct me.

I don't own Naruto, I think that brings the Author's Notes to a conclusion…. Wait… maybe not; please review… now I'm really done.

Chapter 3 – The Healing Begins

Rin shuffled her way through the hospital trying to ignore all the people she passed on her way to the cafeteria. Usually she enjoyed stopping to chat with everyone in the building, knowing everyone in her path was one of her favorite pastimes. The nurses and technicians throughout the medical center all loved for her to stop in and share a minute or two of idle chatter, and Rin for her part, enjoyed it as well. She was always learning new things, regardless of who she spoke to or their importance in the hospital hierarchy, and they all fancied hearing about her own life. In fact, many of the older nurses even knew about her crush on Kakashi, half of them urged her to walk up and kiss him, demanding him to be her boyfriend, while the other half thought he wasn't good enough for their sweet little Rin and wanted her to find someone else. Today though, Rin didn't want to talk to any of them and the kind sympathetic looks they were all sending her made her want to crawl in a hole and hide. She just wanted to get to the cafeteria and the gift shop quickly so she could get back to her forgotten wheelchair and cry in private.

It just wasn't fair that Obito was the one in the hospital damaged so badly when it had been her that wasn't capable of defending herself. While sensei and Jiraiya had praised her for not giving away any mission information, Rin knew she shouldn't have been in the situation in the first place. She was supposed to be a chunin and she'd gotten herself caught almost instantly, worse than a genin fresh out of the ninja academy. She was an embarrassment to the team. Kakashi had lost his own eye, and Obito… poor Obito, Rin didn't think she would ever be able to get the vision of him crushed beneath that rock out of her mind. When she'd run the medical scan of his body it had been practically impossible to find any bones in the right side of his body that weren't smashed into a thousand pieces. As much as Jiraiya said he had faith that Tsunade-hime could fix him, Rin just didn't think it was possible. Jiraiya hadn't actually been able to _see_ the damage, _she_ had, and she didn't think anyone could fix that, not even Tsunade-hime. It just wasn't fair; Obito was in this awful condition when Rin was the one who had been worthless on the mission.

So busy wallowing in pity was Rin that she barely noticed she had reached the cafeteria. She got in line behind a younger boy, his brown hair was tied back loosely and a forehead protector, shining with newness proclaimed him a recent graduate of the ninja academy and a newly minted genin. Rin found herself wondering if he would have managed to do a better job on her mission then she did.

"I'll take a coffee, light and sweet, and a chocolate donut please," the boy shinobi requested.

"Sure thing sweetie," the lady clerk at the counter smiled at him. "We barely see you anymore Iruka, where have you been?"

"Haha… yeah, well since I became a genin I've been pretty busy with missions and training and stuff. I haven't really had time to visit my grandma much, but I still try to come whenever I have a minute."

"Well it's nice to see you again, tell your grandma I said Hi," the clerk handed him the coffee and donut. "Ravi will ring you down there sugar. See you around. Now what can I get for you little lady?"

"Oh, ummm… I'll have a coffee, light and sweet please," Rin answered.

"Well darling, he just got the last cup. You're going to have to wait a little bit while I brew up a new pot."

"Okay, sure," Rin said and turned to find a seat while she waited.

"Miss," Rin felt a soft touch on her arm and turned to see the young ninja from the concession line. "If you want you can take this cup. I can wait for the next one. My grandma won't mind, and if you don't mind me saying it, you look like you might need to get back a lot sooner than I do."

Rin felt herself wanting to smile at the youthful shinobi. His astute observation aside, his sincerity and kindness were touching. "No, it's okay; I really appreciate the offer…"

"Iruka, my name's Iruka," he said, offering his hand in greeting.

"Thanks, Iruka," she said shaking his hand. "I'm Rin."

"Nice to meet you Rin," he smiled warmly at her.

"You too. And like I said, thanks for the offer, but I think I'd actually like to wait here a little bit before I go back. It's a little intense up there."

"Well, I'll sit here with you and keep you company then. It's the least I can do for getting the last cup."

Rin laughed, "Its not like you did it on purpose. You don't have to stay."

Blushing, Iruka replied sheepishly, "Yeah, but I wouldn't _mind_."

Iruka stayed with her until the coffee was brewed, and Rin was grateful for the company. He told her about his grandmother being sick and his frequent visits to the hospital, and she told him about her training to be a medic nin and her desire to be great one day like Tsunade-hime. Then she shared the reason she was in the hospital currently and her worry for Obito during his surgery.

"I know what it's like to worry like that. My grandma has had so many surgeries I can't tell you how many anymore. It's hard. But here, take these," he said handing her a worn deck of cards. "These are my lucky cards. Every time my grandma has a surgery I use these cards to play solitaire to pass the time, and every time, she comes out just fine. I want you to take them, and play a few games, play even just one if you want, and I'm sure your friend will be just fine."

"Really?" Rin looked over at him. "Are you sure? They seem pretty special to you."

"Ehh… it's okay," he smiled lopsidedly and a faint blush appeared on his cheeks again. "You seem pretty special too. Just let me know how your friend does."

This time a slight tinge of pink tinted Rin's cheeks. "Thank you, you don't know how much this means to me. As soon as he's out of surgery I'll get them back to you."

"No problem. It was great meeting you Rin."

"You too," she said, and then she moved in to give him a warm hug. "Thanks for being the bright spot in my day."

Rin turned and walked the opposite way down the hallway, back to where Kakashi and Jiraiya, and maybe even sensei, were waiting for news of Obito, while Iruka stood in the hallway for a minute, a little dazed, for the rest of the day the ear to ear grin never left his face.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

Tsunade paused and took a moment to catch her breath and push the hair back out of her eyes. Optical surgery was always difficult but this was even more so. Working on Obito's eye offered up precious insight into the workings of the sharingan and the Uchiha kekkei genkai, but not without its price, and Tsunade was beginning to feel the wear and tear on her chakra system. Repairing the macula and fovea was a tedious task on a normal patient, however with an Uchiha it was downright draining. Connecting the retina, macula, and fovea to the optic nerve while making sure to maintain the chakra passages that would allow the sharingan to work properly required her to keep a constant flow of threadlike chakra running through the pathways. The concentration needed to maintain the precise amount was immense. If she pushed too much chakra through the passage she could overload the receptors and fry his optic nerve in which case the poor boy would end up blind, however if she stopped the flow for even a second or didn't provide enough the tunnel would close up and scar. If that happened he would never be able to mold chakra through it again and though he'd be able to see, he would never have use of the sharingan.

Tsunade was almost finished with the surgery. She just needed to attach a few more of the macula to his optic nerve and he'd be in the clear, then she could record the little bit of knowledge she'd been able to obtain about the Uchiha blood line limit. Though it was only a minute amount she was surprised to have acquired any at all, the clans were usually very secretive when it concerned family jutsu or kekkei genkai. And earlier in the day the Sandaime had told her the Uchiha clan leader, Fugaku, had refused to donate any of the eyes from the recently deceased Uchiha. Konoha was at war and as such, there were many lost lives, Uchiha and otherwise. Fugaku had stated that Obito had already betrayed the clan by giving his own sharingan away to a lesser shinobi, and didn't deserve someone else's. After all, he'd placed such little value on his own. Tsunade had wanted to march right down to the police station and punch the arrogant man through a wall; she refrained knowing it would only add fuel to his self righteous rants about the subjugation of the Uchiha clan at the hands of the Senju clan. Hiruzen had been upset as well, but there had been nothing either one of them could do; a non-Uchiha eye would have to be used for the transplant. Then, just as she was prepping for surgery, 5 year old Uchiha Itachi, son of Fugaku, had arrived with an Uchiha eye in a bento box. With the health of poor Obito in doubt, Tsunade had no time to question the mode of transport for the eye, or why the bastard had relented and changed his mind, but now that the critical part was over she began to mull it over in her mind.

"Tsunade-sensei," Tsunade's apprentice cut through her concentration. "I've finished reconstruction of the fibula and tibia, as well as the ribs and arms, and while those were all almost completely shattered, the femur was mostly intact. I've begun mending the fractures sustained in the lower region but I don't think I have enough chakra left to properly repair his knee. The articular cartilage has been damaged which will require more chakra precision then I'm capable of at this moment. I'm sorry sensei."

"No need to apologize Shizune," Tsunade smiled at the young girl. "You've done a great job; I doubt there is anyone else in the hospital that could have done better."

"Thank you, Tsunade-sensei," Shizune's cheeks blushed at the praise. "I am sure you could have done it, and still been able to finish his knee."

Tsunade chuckled lightly shaking her head, the girl never gave herself enough credit and constantly gave Tsunade more then she deserved. She ran her hands over the boy's legs, scanning with her chakra while Shizune completed healing the fractures in Obito's upper thigh. Her apprentice had been extremely thorough in the reconstruction and Tsunade was unable to find even one bone chip or fragment tout of place. Shizune was going to make a fantastic medic-jounin one day. In her own opinion, Tsunade thought the girl was probably already better than most of the medic jounin in the field, but when the last jounin exam had come up Shizune had insisted she wasn't yet prepared enough. Tsunade had pushed but her assistant was steadfast in the belief that she had way more to learn and in the end she had relented. If the girl had doubts she might not be confident during the exam and that could lead to failure on the test, it was better to wait and be sure.

Tsunade waited for Shizune to finish mending the femur, allowing her chakra as much rest as she could between use and once again started thinking about Obito's new sharingan's arrival in a bento box, delivered in the hands of a small child. What could have changed Fugaku's mind? Why didn't they have someone with a medical background come down to remove it? Whoever had cut out the eye from its previous owner had done so rudimentarily. The macula had been rough at the edges and had needed to be recut and shaped with a scalpel, which could have been avoided if they had just let a professional do it to begin with, it almost looked like they'd originally been cut with a barely sharpened kunai. And on top of that, why did he send it with a five year old delivery boy? What was going on at that Uchiha –?

"I'm finished Tsunade-sensei," Shizune interrupted her thoughts again. "Should I prep the knee for you?"

"No, Shizune, thank you, that's not necessary. I've got it. Why don't you get out of here? Go home and spend some time with your family. We're leaving here in less than a week."

"Hai," she nodded and began to remove her surgical gear. "Should I let them know that he's going to be okay?"

"Yeah, go ahead. The surgery's done; he should have no problems with his eyes when he gets out of here. I however am going to need a lot of sake."


	5. And Then We Breathe

A/N: I don't own Naruto, wish I did, but like my grandma used to say, wish in one hand, piss in the other; see which one fills up faster.

And now, on with the show….

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Chapter 5 – And Then We Breathe

A relieved Shizune exited the intensive care unit to find a hallway full of expectant ninja. The perverted member of Tsunade-sensei's legendary squad sat on the right hand side, chin tilted up to the ceiling as his head leant back to rest on the wall, a slight girl with dark tresses and purple facial tattoos lay propped against his left arm for support, her eyes were wide open in anticipation of Shizune's words, but the shadows beneath them and her slouched posture revealed her fatigue. The strain of the mission was taxing her. Jiraiya's former student, Minato, Konoha's own Yellow Flash, stood to the left clutching his wife, Kushina's hand in his own as she calmly rubbed his shoulder in an effort to soothe and comfort the distraught ninja. A young grey haired boy lounging in a dilapidated wheelchair opposite Jiraiya, looking up at her eagerly from his book, waiting for her to speak. Shizune was glad to see he had been reading to pass the time, unlike some other agitating ninja she knew who would have scoured the hospital in search of victims to prank and trouble to get into. Unbidden, a vision of Shiranui Genma and his frequent partner in crime, Morino Ibiki, careening wildly down the hall in wheelchairs as nurses and doctors alike frantically tried to escape being bulldozed by the whirling dervishes, almost causing her to chuckle. Not this boy though, his calm demeanor and maturity were shining examples of what a ninja should be. Instead of causing a nuisance he was reading a book, probably one of the classics, in fact she could just make out the title of it. Wait, what was that he was reading? It certainly didn't look like one of the classics.

"Jiraiya, didn't Tsunade-sensei tell you to stop hanging out your smutty novels to the students" Shizune howled; her opinion of the silver haired shinobi dropping right down to sit with Genma and Ibiki as his face blushed pink proving her assumption correct.

"Now, now Shizune-chan, Tsunade is certainly not my sensei. And that's not really important right now, is it?" Jiraiya soothed. "How's the boy? Is he going to make it?"

Five sets of eyes stared up at her hungrily for the information. "Yes, he's going to be fine. He's going to need a lot of intense physical therapy if he wants to continue being a ninja but the eye transplant was a success, and we expect he'll make a full recovery."

A veritable sigh could be heard through the corridor as the five shinobi exhaled in unison and the tension disappeared from their bodies.

"Arigato, Shizune-san. I can't tell you how glad I am that you and Tsunade-hime were here in the village. I don't even want to think about could have happened if you weren't," Minato smiled beautifully as he thanked her, his handsome face lighting up from the effort.

"Oh, ha-ha, ummm thank you, but it was m-mostly Tsunade-sensei who did all the work," Shizune answered, feeling a little flustered, she'd had a crush on the striking young shinobi since she first met him and often found it difficult to speak in his presence. "I-I'm just glad we were still around to help, umm… we're leaving at the end of the week."

"Why so soon?" Kushina questioned. "You just got here. I've barely gotten to see Tsunade and she's already going again?"

Shizune shrugged noncommittally, she'd forgotten how close the kunoichi was to her mentor. Kushina and Tsunade both shared a love of gambling and sake. Much to Shizune and Minato's chagrin, whenever Tsunade was in town the two of them could be frequently be found feeding money to the slot machines at Senju Palace, drunkenly leaning against one another in an effort to stand up. Shizune couldn't count the amount of money the two of them had lost in the time they'd known each other, and she was sure that Minato didn't want to.

"Tsunade-hime had important things to do dear," Minato scolded his wife. "She has people to heal and jutsu to perfect. A sannin's work is never done. You can't expect her to spend all her time getting sloshed and throwing away her money, sweetie."

It was obvious from Kushina's face that "sweetie" had done nothing to soften his reprimand. If looks could kill Konoha's Yellow Flash wouldn't have lived to fight another day. "I don't think it was you I asked. Was it Minato-teme?"

Shizune shuffled her feet uncomfortably and sheepishly gazed at the floor, trying desperately not to look up at the angry kunoichi. "I'm not really sure why we're leaving so soon."

Thankfully the small tattooed girl stood up and maneuvered her way to the center of the awkward triangle, composed of Shizune, Minato, and Kushina; breaking the tension and giving Shizune and opportunity to escape.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Shizune-san," the girl spoke softly. "I'm Rin, Obito's teammate, and I wanted to thank you and Tsunade-hime for saving him. I am so grateful."

"It's nice to meet you Rin-san, and it was a pleasure to have been able to help someone from the village. We're here so infrequently that it's nice to do something for one of our own for a change. I have to be going now though; I'm trying to spend some quality time with my family before we leave again. Tsunade-sensei should be coming out soon and she can take a look at your injuries. I'm afraid I don't have enough chakra left for it."

"It's quite alright, you've done more than enough to help us," Minato eased.

"Don't worry about it Shizune-chan!" Jiraiya exuberantly patted her on the shoulder, almost scaring her out of her yukata, when did he even stand up, she thought. "These kids are hearty; they'll be fine until she gets here."

"Arigato, Jiraiya-sama. Hopefully I'll see you around," Shizune smiled and left to visit with her family.

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Tsunade moved her right hand over Kakashi's left eye again, her green medical chakra lighting the boys face as she probed and scanned the optic nerve for a third time, disbelief painted her face. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, it should not even have been possible, but here was the proof staring her right in the face. Kakashi's new left eye, and Obito's old one, spun with three straight lines diverging from the center pupil, dividing the iris into three equal parts; a manifestation of the sharingan she had never seen before, one that was supposedly a myth; the mangekyo sharingan. And as startling as this was, it wasn't the mangekyo that had her transfixed, but the actual condition of the eye itself.

Kakashi's new eye had been implanted perfectly. Tsunade had never seen such exquisite work. The macula and fovea were attached to the optic nerve with a precision she had never seen, and in all honesty would not have thought possible. From what she'd heard, the surgery had taken place just earlier in the day and on the battle field no less. Yet all the nerve endings fit together perfectly and if she hadn't known it had happened she wouldn't have been able to tell the eye hadn't belonged to Kakashi from the get go. The surgery had been performed so well Tsunade would swear that the eye was not an implant but the eye he'd been born with. There was no scar tissue, scabbing, discoloration, or flaw of any kind to be found, which was just insane.

Obito's eye had been removed and inserted in Kakashi's socket in the field, without proper anesthetic or surgical instruments and it still managed to be perfect. If someone was to go in and study Obito's currently new eye, and then compare it to the work done on Kakashi's they would have thought a novice had worked on it. That was how good the surgeon had been.

"Minato, who did this?" Tsunade asked.

"Did what?"

"The surgery on Kakashi-kun's eye, teme," Kushina spat as she punched her husband, obviously still sore from their spat earlier.

"Oh," he said. "Rin did it. Don't be too hard on her though, she was in a rush and they didn't really have ideal circumstances for something like that."

Kakashi blinked, "Is something wrong? It doesn't feel like it, I think its working fine, and I can see better than ever."

"Rin? The girl who was just here? She did this? The one with the tattooed face?" Tsunade gaped.

"Yeah," Minato said excusing his student. "But like I said, conditions weren't optimal and…"

"Minato," Tsunade interrupted. "There is no need to defend her. The work she did here is amazing. I doubt if I could have done a job this well myself. Her chakra control is astonishing. Who has been training her?"

"I have," he replied.

"Not her daily training. Who is providing her medical supervision?"

"Oh, ummmm… nobody. She's been studying on her own, taking books out of the library, and practicing on herself and injured animals."

"Extraordinary," the Sannin remarked. "You should be extremely proud of her. She has the potential to be the best medic I've ever seen. If this is an example of her work she'll be without peers in a surgical profession. With more chakra manipulation and control her skill will surpass my own."

Minato stared at Tsunade, "Do you think she should be learning more chakra control?"

"Yes, of course. Her talent should not be wasted."

The Yellow Flash swallowed the lump in his throat. He knew he wasn't the one to teach Rin chakra control, it was probably the very ninja skill he had the least proficiency in; as a matter of fact one could definitely say it was his worst. In fact, his shunshin jutsu had been developed as an aftereffect of him not knowing what to do with all the unnecessary extra chakra he always molded when performing jutsu. He'd just taken it ad roughly shoved all the excess to his feet and the result was the stuff of legends. Unfortunately this made it impossible for him to be the one to supervise Rin's medic training. He knew what he had to ask, and how much it would break his heart.

"Nanitozo, please Tsunade-hime, please take her with you," Minato asked, though he would miss his most precious student, as unfair as it was Rin had always been his favorite, and he hated to think what the team would be like without her.

Tsunade looked up at him and nodded, tears had begun to pool in the corners of his eyes, and his whole demeanor had changed. The proud parent of five minutes ago now replaced with a despondent and forlorn man. Though his sadness was consuming him, he knew he was doing what was best for Rin. Tsunade would take and mold her into an outstanding medic nin and Rin would thank him for it, but it still hurt to lose her before he was ready.

"Arigato Tsunade-hime," Minato sniffled.

Crack! Kushina smacked the back of his head.

"Stop being a baby!" she admonished. "She's just going for training, it's not the last time you'll see her."


	6. Enter the Snake

A/N: I don't own Naruto, if I did, it probably wouldn't be anywhere near as good.

Everyone who favorite, reviewed, or put my story on alert, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I love you all.

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Chapter 6 – Enter the Snake

Sarutobi Hiruzen put down his pen and took a deep breath. His time as hokage had been long and oftentimes draining, but always rewarding. Even so, he was happy to be naming his replacement, it was time to pass the torch, and he was sure he was making the right choice. Now he just had to inform the senior members of the shinobi council and usher in Konoha's new leader.

The stooped forms of Homura, Koharu, and Danzo shuffled into his office and he exhaled. Hopefully this wasn't going to be too difficult. He hoped they agreed with his choice, because no matter what they said, he was certain he would not be changing his mind.

"So you've finally decided to name a successor, Hiruzen my old friend? It's about time. I was beginning to think you'd start to rot before you gave up your claim to that hat," Homura cackled.

Hiruzen smiled at his long time comrade and frequent advisor. He, Homura, and Koharu were the last surviving shinobi from their graduating class at the ninja academy and the people in the world who knew him best. He was glad to know he'd be able to spend more time with them once the Fourth Hokage was sworn into office tomorrow.

"So which one of them did you choose? Who are we entrusting the Leaf to Sarutobi?" Koharu smirked at him. "Which one of your precious students is going to be protecting the village?"

"Please say it isn't Tsunade," Homura begged. "The girl doesn't even spend any time in the village; she only comes home long enough to keep from being declared a missing nin. And from what I hear, her gambling habit hasn't lessened any, while her sake habit has only increased."

Danzo also spoke up, "Orochimaru is not fit for the position, Hokage-sama. He does not care enough for the village."

"Jiraiya is not any better," Koharu observed. "That boy spends too much time spying on the women's bathhouse to be our Hokage."

Homura chuckled at her observation, "I doubt he'll be doing that again anytime soon. After what you did last week I doubt he'll go anywhere near the bathhouse for quite a while. Did she tell you Hiruzen? Ha-ha, she probably scarred him for life."

"No, I think she has neglected to tell me. So why don't you share what it is that has you in stitches?" the third joked back.

Koharu's eyes narrowed menacingly at Homura, but widened innocently as she turned to Hiruzen. "I'm sure I have no idea what he is talking about, _hokage-sama," _she said demurely.

"Ha-ha, now you know she's full of it. Hokage-sama? In all your years as hokage has she even once referred to you like that?" Homura guffawed and fought to control his laughter. "Last week when little Jiraiya was at the hot spring peeping, our dear sweet Koharu did a henge of a beautiful, busty young blond. Then she chased the other women out and started making kinky faces over towards his hiding spot. Of course he thought it was his lucky day, and his mind went into overdrive thinking about all the ways he could incorporate this new goddess into his novels. So she drops the towel and the henge at the same time, leaving little Jiraiya with an eyeful of her saggy boobs and wrinkly old ass. He came running from the hot spring screaming like a little girl."

At this point Homura could barely contain his laughter; he was doubled over and cackling like a mad man while Koharu shook her head.

"He had it coming," she said calmly. "He shouldn't be peeping, that's not what we train ninja for."

"Ha-ha, maybe your right. But you didn't have to burn his eyeballs out of his head. Do you know what the sight of you naked can do to a man? Ha-ha, little Jiraiya may never be able to look at another woman again without thinking of your pendulum-like boobs swaying in the wind, ha-ha."

Thwack! Koharu smashed him in the back of the head with the palm of her hand.

"Well if you're quite done with this nonsense maybe we can discuss what we came here for," Danzo cut in angrily, reminding the old teammates of his presence. "Have you chosen our new hokage or not, Hiruzen?"

"Ah, you are right, I should let you know who I've chosen," Hiruzen stated. "And I think you will all be pleased with my choice."

"I knew it, you've finally seen it!" Danzo exclaimed. "You've realized the extent of my contributions to Konoha and I'm finally going to be rewarded for my service and commitment. Finally I'll be given my due. Nobody deserves this more!"

Koharu and Homura turned to look at Hiruzen, surely he hadn't chosen Danzo, the man was ruthless and cruel. He thought only of his own power and wealth, and often made suggestions in council meetings that would endanger Konoha's shinobi for an increase to his own pocketbook. In short, he was everything that the kage of Konoha should not be.

"I'm sorry Danzo, but I didn't mean to make you think I'd chosen you. My decision is for Namikaze Minato to take my place."

"That is a good choice my friend," Koharu and Homura nodded their approval.

Danzo's permanent scowl deepened; seething he marched out of the office.

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Far away, across an ocean of sand, another kage made a decision of great consequence, and his wife wept.

"Stop your howling. You are the wife of the kazekage; act like it. You're sacrifice will make Suna great. You will do more for the people dead then you ever would alive," he spit icily, before leaving her to her pain.

The teenage bodyguard looked down at the sobbing woman in his protection and offered his hand to help her up. He was torn between his love for his village and oath to his kazekage, and the urge he felt to save the weeping woman at his feet. The kage was cruel, harsh, and cold at all times; never kind to those beneath him, while his wife was the opposite; always amiable and charming, forever supportive to the shinobi of the sand. She was beloved by the villagers, ninja and civilian alike, and it was to her whom the kazekage owed his popularity with the masses. She was the heart of Suna, even if her husband was unaware.

"I can get you away from here," the traitorous words poured from his mouth before he could think of the consequences.

She looked up out of red puffy defeat filled eyes and smiled forlornly; a broken woman. "My life is already forfeit. I will not allow you to add yours to his list as well. And even if we could get away, which I know you know we can't, I could not live without my children."

Though he knew it was impossible, again he couldn't stop the overflow of words coming from his mouth when he considered her plight. "We'll take them too."

She climbed to her knees and shook her head sadly. "No."

"But my lady, we can—"

"No," she cut him off, and stood up on her own, she locked gazes with him, and this time when he saw the emerald green eyes staring back they burned a fire lit with an inner strength he had not heretofore seen. "Though many seem to forget it, I am a kunoichi of the sand, and I will not run from my fate."

"He's a mad man, it would not be running—"

"No," she stopped him again. "I will not hide, and live in shame. I will meet my death with my head held high, and die as a woman my children can be proud of."

He nodded his head in understanding.

"Baki, she said, grasping his hand in her own. "Take care of them for me, please? Make sure they are strong; they will need to be to survive their father's madness. I know my Temari will be a powerful kunoichi, she has too much fire in her soul to remain a civilian. And my sweet boy, I know he is shy, but Kankuro will surprise you all, he is sturdy and sure. I know they will both make me proud."

Baki nodded, promising himself that he'd protect them with his life. Nothing would harm those children while there was breath left in his body.

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Orochimaru-sensei's anger raged and bubbled up wildly as he stalked down the long tunnel to his laboratory in the sea country; Anko trailing behind sullenly, wishing they were back in Leaf territory. Her sensei was always volatile but today he'd been worse than usual. Since the ceremony proclaiming the Yellow Flash Konoha's fourth Hokage his fury had been boiling; occasionally erupting in violence and Anko was on edge. She'd taken beatings before, but that was in the name of training, this was different. There had been no training involved when he'd backhanded her and sent her flying across the lab to crash against the hard stone walls. And even though he'd healed her injuries she was still nervous of the idea that she might get new ones.

"Anko!" Orochimaru snarled at her. "Why are you lagging behind? Are you too weak to keep up? Do you need some motivation?"

The ghostly pale sannin's hands flew through seals and suddenly there were two dog sized black snakes snapping at her heels. She ran down the hall, adding chakra to her limbs just to stay ahead of their gaping maws, who knew if they were poisonous just to teach her a lesson; often her sensei was brutal in his instruction. As she rushed past him and into his dark laboratory she could hear him laughing and for some reason it sent chills up and down her spine. She came to the back wall of the workroom and spun around quickly; ready to face off against her serpentine tormentors. Kunai flew from her hands and she began to form the hand seals of a particularly nasty fire jutsu she'd learned from an old scroll she'd found on a shelf hidden away in a corner, it crossed her mind that when she managed to perform it properly it very much resembled one of the jutsu the Uchiha clan were famous for but she'd have to think about that later, right now there were snakes to bake. Before she could finish the seals however, the snakes disappeared into puffs of smoke and she was left with just her sensei leering at her menacingly.

"Anko-chan," he purred. "Do you want to help your help your sensei out?"

"Hai," she nodded immediately. Of course she wanted to help him, why would he even ask the question. He was her sensei after all, and he'd taught her more jutsu than any of the other chunin could even dream of. When she'd made chunin he'd taken to teaching her far more complicated techniques then any of the other shinobi her age were learning, and if some of them happened to be of the forbidden kinjutsu variety, it only made him more thorough in her education. Besides, it only served to make her that much more deadly, and simultaneously that much better of a tool for her village. If she could help him, she would, plain and simple. It was the least she could do for the only person who had ever thought she was worth the effort. Several jounin had passed on the opportunity to train her when her genin cell and sensei had been killed during a mission, yet Orochimaru-sama had welcomed and comforted her. To think that the clanless Mitarashi Anko had been taken in by one of the legendary Sannin was sometimes too much for her to comprehend. She was always in awe of his amazing cunning and skill. He'd been her teacher, friend, and parent through the years and she idolized him. There was no person on earth Anko cared for more, and she'd walk through the gates of hell for him if he only asked. If he needed her help, for anything at all, he would get it.

She wasn't sure what they were doing in sea country, but it must be important. They had left Konoha almost immediately after Namikaze Minato's coronation, and her sensei had said almost nothing the entire trip. Unfortunately, now that he'd begun speaking it was with tones that made her cringe. She'd never been a squeamish girl but the look he was giving her at the moment was darkly sinister, and her stomach was betraying her with uncharacteristic acrobatics.

"Kukuku," Orochimaru smirked perversely at his young disciple. "I knew you would Anko-chan."

"What do you want me to do sensei?" she asked nervously.

"Survive," he hissed as his head shot out lightning fast on an elongated serpentine neck. A dim light in the darkened laboratory glinted off of evil yellow eyes and Anko had no time to even scream before his teeth sank into her neck and pain erupted through her body. She collapsed onto the floor; spasms rocking her body cramping and burning a trail of pain down her nervous system. All she knew was agony before it was too much to bear and she passed out from the torment.

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Endnote: Sorry for the detour, but everything will tie together eventually, I just want to include all the things going on at the time, as Obito will at some point effect almost everyone in the Naruto universe.

Since I wrote down here anyway, I figured I'd shamelessly beg for reviews…. Please please please….


	7. Surprises

A/N: Don't own Naruto.

Chapter 7 – Surprises

Obito cracked his eyes open slowly, peeking out into his hospital room, hoping against hope that it was empty. He had not been alone since arriving at the facility two weeks ago, and he longed for some privacy. Granted he'd been knocked out the first day of his stay, but since coming to, he'd had absolutely no time to himself. Doctors and nurses alike had poked and prodded at him so much he was beginning to think of himself as more of a science experiment then a human being. He knew his new found popularity had more to do with the sharingan then anything he himself had done, and he wondered for the millionth time, why his family hadn't just come to get him yet.

Medics outside the Uchiha clan very rarely got the opportunity to even seen an Uchiha sharingan, much less to examine one up close and personal. Obito was feeling the repercussions of such secrecy. Every Hiroto, Hina, and Ryo was coming in to try and spend as much time with him as they possibly could before the Uchiha's could swoop in and whisk him away. In fact, Obito was beginning to wonder where the hell they were. Under normal circumstances the clan medics would have already stolen him away and had him recovering in the family's own medical facility, far away from prying eyes. For him to still be in with the general population was so far out of the ordinary he couldn't even imagine what must be going on.

For the life of him he couldn't figure out why he hadn't seen a single Uchiha soul, other than Itachi, since he'd woken up. This thought led him to a whole other line of questions that he had no answers for, such as what was Itachi doing hanging around anyway? Obito had barely ever spent any time with the kid. He was the clan leader, Fugaku's son, and Obito had heard his name in passing; there was gossip that the little bastard was something else, apparently he'd already mastered a few of the Uchiha katon jutsu's and the elders had big plans for him, well according to the old women his grandmother spoke to anyway. And while all that made for interesting conversation and was great for the kid, there was still no reason for him to be visiting so frequently. Obito was far from the best Uchiha in terms of skill, hell, he'd only just activated his sharingan on this completely botched mission, his immediate family was by no means close with the head family, and prior to this hospital stay he and Itachi had never spoken outside the obligatory handshake at clan functions. Yet here he'd been; the past three days had seen Itachi faithfully at his bedside. Not that it meant they were getting to know one another or anything. Itachi was extremely quiet; disconcertingly so. He would stand at the doorway to Obito's hospital room, staring intently at everything but Obito. His hawk-like eyes continuously scanning the trees outside the window, the expanse of his tiny hospital room, and finally turning to take in the narrow hallway corridor before starting all over again, never uttering a word. A toy soldier sentinel, guarding the clown prince of the Uchiha clan. Obito had to laugh, Itachi being sent to guard him was a comical thought. Itachi was five years old, not even in the academy yet, and Obito himself was hardly worth guarding, even if it was by a child. Yet what else could the little weirdo be doing?

Unfortunately there was nobody to ask, since nobody else from the clan had come to see him; not even his own mother and father. What the hell was going on? Maybe he could get Kakashi to find out for him, the prick had always been good at espionage missions, his silent dick head ways were always good for going unnoticed, and Kakashi had been super nice to him due to his guilt at his teammate landing in the hospital, and Obito was planning to milk that as long as he could, forever if possible. He supposed he could just ask Itachi, but in all honesty, the kid gave him the creeps. He had the serious face of a forty year old man, never a hint of a smile on that mug. He was five years old for crying out loud; he should be out playing with other little kids and having fun. Not practicing stoic looks and freaking Obito out with his death stare. Being Fugaku's son must be taking its toll on him, most clan members tried to avoid the brutish clan leader as much as possible; he was known more for his quick temper and outlandish demands from the different Uchiha houses, then his battle prowess. Obito could only imagine how awful it would be to actually live with the man, maybe he should cut Itachi some more slack, there had to be a little bit of normal somewhere in there.

Unfortunately Obito had very little time to spend thinking about Itachi, his family, or otherwise. Not when the thought that his Rin was leaving to train with Tsunade in five days was always at the forefront of his mind. The girl he loved more than anything else in the world was leaving for who even knew how long, Tsunade and Shizune sometimes weren't seen for years at a time, and nothing could infringe on the importance of that. His heart had broken when he'd found out from Kakashi yesterday morning. His first thought had actually been, "Yes! She'll finally be away from Kakashi long enough to realize that he's an arrogant idiot, and that I'm the one she loves," and then reality set in and he realized she'd also be leaving him behind too. What would he do without her? Even if she didn't know it, and reciprocate his feelings, just seeing her made his day better. He would give anything for a smile from Rin; even a boot in the ass from that insipid Kakashi was worth it if Rin laughed. She made everyone of his days a little brighter just by being there, and he couldn't imagine how dark they were going to be with her gone. He racked his brain thinking of ways to keep her around, making plans to sabotage her voyage monopolized his thoughts, and he'd come up with a few he hoped to put in action. He had managed to keep them in town for the duration of his hospital stay, unfortunately he was about to be released at the end of the week and then his sweet angel would be gone. And if he was being honest with himself, which he wasn't, there was pretty much no chance that he could get her to stay.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

Hiruzen's head snapped up from the mountains of paperwork littering his desk, as his door practically flew off the hinges and an irate Uchiha Fugaku stormed through it leaving his assistant, Otomatsu, floundering and sputtering futilely on the other side of the doorway. "Stop! You can't go in there! Hokage-sama I told him he couldn't go in. Uchiha-dono you must come out of there. The hokage is busy. Sumimasen, hokage-sama, sumimasen."

Hiruzen lifted his hand to signal for silence, "Enough Otomatsu. Please leave us, and shut the door. To what do I owe this honor, Fugaku-kun?"

Hiruzen motioned for the Uchiha clan head to take a seat, which the man chose to ignore, and instead made his way over to stand directly in front of the hokage's desk, where he then waited for the office door to shut before speaking.

"Hokage-sama," he began, the calmness in his voice belying the angry fire in his eyes. "Was I not clear on the details of the medical care Uchiha Obito was to receive?"

"Yes, unfortunately you were," the hokage answered stonily, he was still angry with the man over his treatment of the adolescent shinobi. The boy's actions were honorable and selfless, and yet his own family had refused to provide him with an eye that would allow for his complete recovery. Hiruzen would never understand the despicable ways in which clans attempted to maintain blood purity. Punishing Obito so heartlessly for his most unselfish act to date would never sit well with him.

"Then can you explain to me why the boy is sitting in your hospital with a stolen sharingan?!" Fugaku's question had started just as calmly as his first, than built in crescendo until the last half was a shout, punctuated by the banging of his fist on the desk.

Hiruzen stared blankly at the enraged man and counted to ten, nothing good could come of him putting the insolent man in his place, reminding Fugaku who was Hokage and who was not would have to wait. Hiruzen picked his battles with the clan heads; it was often more trouble than it was worth to argue with clan heads outside village councils, all it did was lead to aggravation. "I assure you, I am not the one behind mix-up, even if I am pleased with the outcome. Tsunade assured me that she implanted the eye Itachi, your son, brought over. Nobody stole anything, and for you to suggest such a thing of your former Hokage is offensive and completely repugnant."

"What are you talking about? Itachi never brought anything over to the hospital."

"I assure you, he most certainly did. And if the eye currently residing in Obito's socket is of questionable origin I suggest you look to your own doorstep."

"I will get to the bottom of this hokage-sama, and that slug woman better not have anything to do with this." With that Fugaku strode out the door. Hiruzen sighed heavily, glad that this was his last day sitting in for Minato, and silently prayed, for the fourth's sake, that Tsunade really had nothing to do with this.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

Shizune stepped daintily through a field of wildflowers, far out past the genin training grounds, trying desperately not to crush any of the delicate blooms. She took a deep breath of the Konoha valley air and put her head up to the sky twirling around to bask in the crisp beautiful feeling she got just from being in Konoha. Sweet Kami she missed while she was away. She was leaving with Tsunade-sensei and Rin in just five more days and she wanted to take in as much of her beloved Konoha as possible. She felt terrible for the thought, but she'd actually been glad for the seriousness of Obito's injuries, and his love of Tsunade-sensei. The poor boy had cried and sobbed, he didn't trust anyone to treat him as well as Tsunade-hime could. He would die without her "kind and gentle loving touch," he'd proclaimed. Shizune had almost spit out her coffee at the thought of her sensei's "kind and gentle loving touch." His posturing had been mostly ridiculous and Shizune had seen it for what it was, the Uchiha's crush on his teammate was incredibly obvious, but Tsunade hadn't and who was she to point out his incredible ruse, especially when it had bought her three more weeks to be here at home.

Shizune loved every little bit of her home town, and had fond memories for pretty much everywhere in it. She fondly recalled the sprawling shinobi training grounds and practice fields, they were littered with weapons, both old and new alike, and when she'd been younger Uncle Dan would take to the rarely used ones for "fossil" hunting, her best poison administering senbon had been found on one such excursion, a treasure trove if ever there was one. A stolen first kiss on the top of the awe inspiring Hokage monument, that had been only a year earlier, she and Tsunade had managed to actually be in Konoha for the Spring Light Festival and Ebisu had snuck her up past the guards to watch the fireworks unobstructed. She'd been so enamored with the luminous beauty in front of her that she hadn't even minded when he chastely stole what she'd been saving for Konoha's Yellow Flash with his delicately soft lips. And no matter where they went, how far they travelled, there was no place on earth tantamount to Ichiraku Ramen. Every shinobi in Konoha could tell you of its supreme and unrivaled flavor, there was nowhere on Earth even half as delicious, and Shizune had as many memories as Ichiraku had Ramen flavors of the small stand on the corner of Tobirama and Hashirama. Her favorite place of all however, was the valley out behind the genin training grounds, and she'd tried to come by at least twice a week the entire time she'd been in the village soaking in every last detail of it before she left.

Lying down in the waist high grass, she closed her eyes and inhaled the scent of Konoha valley. The aroma of fresh earth, chrysanthemums, and Kinofuji filled her nostrils and she committed the smell to memory. The practically pillow-like grass cushioning her body and the chills she felt in places where dew ridden blades made contact with her warm skin leaving wet droplets clinging to her body clinging to her body were stored and cataloged as well. Shizune would miss Konoha deeply, as she did every time they went away, and she hoped this day was one she would be able to recall with ease when on their seemingly endless journeys. She'd spent the peaceful day harmonizing with Konoha, and tapping into the will of fire. There was no place on earth she felt as much a part of the will of fire as she did here in the valley staring up at the faces of Konoha's strongest shinobi. She often needed to call on their strength, when she and her sensei were far from home and battling for their lives it helped to think about the place she felt closest to them. The Third Shinobi war was taking its toll on the participants and Shizune found it more and more difficult to conjure visions of home from the battlefield; making this long stay in Konoha even more appreciated. Time in Konoha was the salve for all Shizune's ailments.

The calm and quiet of Konoha Valley seeped into her pores, filling her with comfort and contentment. She could hear the Black Paradise Fly catchers, Ryukyu Robins, and Silky Starlings twittering and chattering off in the trees and the chirping of nearby crickets brought her hope for good luck. Shizune thought about how lucky she was to have been born in the beautiful fire country and once again thanked the Konoha shinobi's of the past for deciding to make it a home. Deeply in harmony with meadow and creatures in it, Shizune dozed off and eventually fell into a deep sleep hidden away in the long grass

The sun sank a little lower in the sky by the time her nap was abruptly brought to an end. A heavy weight landed roughly on her torso, knocking the air from her lungs and forcing her awake. Having just woken up, and a violent awakening at that, her vision hadn't had a chance to clear and was extremely blurry, leaving her assailants identity in question, regardless of the fact that they lay sprawled out on top of her. From the stammering apology she could tell it was a male, hastily trying to remove himself from her body, and unintentionally grabbing her right breast in an attempt to push himself off of her, only to fall back down almost immediately when he realized what part of her anatomy it was he had beneath his fingers and urgently removed his hand at once. As he collapsed back down onto her, his face mere inches from her own, Shizune's eyes managed to find their focus; converging on a pair of beautifully fascinating warm dark eyes. She stared into limpid brown pools and felt like she could drown without a care.

The young man on the other side of that alluring chocolate gaze must have been feeling the same way because suddenly Shizune felt his soft lips crash against hers in a passionate kiss. Shizune reached her hands up to cradle the back of his head and run her fingers through his silky locks as she returned his affections and deepened the kiss. His lips parted to allow her searching tongue entrance as she greedily demanded more. Bodies entwined, they lay in the grass kissing feverishly, ignorant to everything going on around them. Shizune had no idea what she was doing, the always reserved kunoichi found herself rolling around in the dirt eagerly with an unidentified male companion, and what was probably worse, was that she didn't care. He'd swept her off her feet without actually leaving the ground and she was sure beyond doubt that he must be the man of her dreams, better even then the Yellow Flash. Unfortunately, and to both of their dismay, the end to their fun was at hand.

"Where the hell are you, ketsunoana?!"An obnoxiously familiar voice shouted through the field. Shiranui Genma came trouncing into the field. "Kisama, I'm sick of looking for this fucking cat, you better get over here so we can finish this shit! Ibiki, where the hell are y—"

Genma was speechless as he stared down at his best friend, and frequent partner in crime, Morino Ibiki, shamelessly making out with the famous "stick-up-her-ass" Shizune. It had to be a genjutsu, not only did that girl not find any of their pranks funny, she had on more than one occasion used her superhuman strength to pound the two of them into the dirt just to prove how much she disliked them. So there was no way what he was seeing was actually happening. Ibiki had a better chance of getting laid by Tsunade-hime herself then he did of getting a kiss from her bitchy apprentice.

"Kai," he said using his chakra to dispel the disturbing image only to find it wouldn't go away.

A/N:

Please send me a review, if you liked it great, and if you didn't let me know why so I can work on fixing it. Thanks!

-Tobirama and Hashirama are the name of the 2nd and 1st hokage's, respectively, whom I chose to name two of Konoha's streets after, since I don't know any of their real names.

Ketsunoana = asshole

Kisama=lord of the donkeys

Sumimasen is used to apologize to those in a higher or senior rank


	8. Unsanctioned Missions

A/N: Sorry this took a while to get written, I only have time to write sporadically. I got a second job that is eating up way more of my time then I first anticipated. Well that's all, so on with the show. Oh, and as always I don't own Naruto, if I did I wouldn't need that second job.

Chapter 8 – Unsanctioned Missions

Keeping himself within the long shadows of the main manor Itachi silently crept toward the back gate of the Uchiha compound, and began his regularly scheduled journey to the Konoha hospital, ready to begin his daily vigil at Obito's bedside. He knew his father had refused Uchiha medical care to the older boy, though he certainly disagreed with his decision, he believed family should be forgiven regardless of the action, yet he knew it was only a matter of time before he himself felt his Otousan's wrath. Instinctively Itachi was also aware of the fact that he would be even deeper in the trouble that was coming his way if he was incriminatingly found at the hospital, in the Uchiha pariah's room. Unfortunately he didn't have a choice, he couldn't stop himself; he just wasn't strong enough.

Itachi knew that for all his five years of age he was pretty powerful, scarcely a day went by without one of the gossipy old hens that made up the "respected" Uchiha elder's wives reminding him he was destined to do great things, all in the Uchiha name of course. However, he also knew that strong for a five year old was nothing in comparison to the strength of his father Fugaku, the current Uchiha clan head. So despite the fact that he was probably the mightiest five year old in Konoha's history, though he had heard that Hatake Kakashi, he of the pilfered sharingan, might have given him a run for his money, he had been powerless against _that_ man. _That_ man's power was overwhelming; Itachi doubted that even his otousan would have stood a chance against him.

He'd first made his presence known three weeks ago. He'd show up masked, wearing a heavy black cloak embroidered with blood red clouds, while whispering orders that would never leave Itachi's head, leaving him with unending nightmares, explicit objectives, and an irate father. Sneaking into the police morgue had been by far the worst of his implanted tasks. Corpses, mutilated and deformed, unrecognizable as human even in some cases, were pouring into Konoha, casualties of the Third Great Ninja war. The hospital's morgue was incapable of accommodating them all and Konoha's police morgue was now taking in the overflow. Itachi had been terrified, his body shivering in the mortuary's frigid air, as he pulled out drawer after drawer of dead bodies, unzipping body bag after body bag, searching for the carcass of an Uchiha, that _that_ man had promised was somewhere in the mess. Itachi's eyes had run dry as he mutely sobbed silently screaming into the night, wishing he could just go home to his Kaasan, where it was warm and safe, but he couldn't, his mind wasn't anywhere near strong enough to counter the sharingan of _that_ man. Eventually he'd found it, which he wasn't really sure was a better thing. At least when he'd been seeking it out his sight was the only sense being horrified, when he'd found it, he'd had to touch the body and involve the rest of his senses, which somehow made what he was doing that much more real. The body's tangibility stealing away all the illusions he'd created in his mind to mask his actions, the body's skin felt cold and hard beneath his fingertips, the smell of burnt flesh from the fire jutsu that killed the man so thick in the air Itachi would swear he could taste it, making it impossible forget. Using the dull practice kunai otousan had given him for getting into the academy; Itachi had pried the dead Uchiha's eye from its socket where it promptly fell to the floor making a sickening pulpy plop that echoed through the metal walled meat locker when it landed and violating Itachi's last unmolested sense. He had often reminded himself that the tortured look on the corpse's face was from his death on the battlefield and not the result of a blunt kunai ripping through his flesh. _That_ man had promised he could take away the nightmares that plagued him since that night but Itachi had yet to see any proof of this. The masked ninja refused to do so until he was sure Obito was going to be okay and until then Itachi had to mind what he said. So back to the hospital he headed; his charge to make sure nobody harmed the recovering Chunin.

"Itachi-kun, come here. We've got to go down to the police station," Itachi's pregnant mother, Mikoto waddled over and gently grabbed her son's wrist to pull him up into a hug, even as he squirmed in protest.

"I don't want to go," he pouted sullenly when she returned him to the ground. "I have to visit somebody. You said I should never break plans."

"I'm sorry sweetie, but you have to come with me. Otousan wants to see you." Still holding his hand she started walking back towards the house to get her coat when she slowed, then stopped to kneel in front of her young son, her gentle face was pensive; her voice tinged with sadness and worry when she spoke, "Itachi, musuka* you don't have anything to do with this right? Hokage-sama was wrong, right baby?"

Itachi could never lie to his mother, so he didn't say anything at all.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

"Kuso!*" Inuzuka Tsume slammed the phone down. It was a cordless and had already been hung up, so the slamming of it into the charger was mostly pointless overkill but damn did it make her feel better. So as long as Kami continued to bless her with a moronic genin cell the slamming would continue. Rikku, the lone kunoichi on her squad, was a delight; intelligent, obedient, and always wanting to learn more, she was the ideal pupil. Unfortunately, poor Rikku's teammates, Kotetsu and Izumo were nothing but trouble. If it wasn't one, it was the other, and sometimes, like today, it was both.

Yamanaka Inoichi, the proud jounin sensei of the infamous Shiranui Genma and Morino Ibiki, had warned her that a genin team could be difficult. Tsume had of course scoffed and assured him that just because he had raised a bad bunch of pups didn't mean she would too. After all, students were only as good as their sensei. Now she was paying for the remark tenfold.

Five months pregnant and already the mother of a four year old, Tsume would only have her cell for two more weeks. Then they would be reassigned and another sensei would take over their training until she was back to work. While she was glad to be getting them off her hands, she was also a little sad to give them up for almost a year. Sure they were bad, and they pissed her off, but they were _her_ bad students and the bond she'd formed with them was strong. She didn't want to admit it but she had a soft spot for troublemakers. She looked down at her growing belly and chuckled. Her baby's father was long gone, having blown town immediately after finding out about her pregnancy. Izumo and Kotetsu had been outraged, calling him a coward and offering to chase him down and kick his ass, but Tsume had declined the offer. After all, she had expected it; he'd done the same thing when Hana was born. Hana was the best thing she had in life though, so she'd only felt an overwhelming happiness when she found out about her new baby. She was grateful toward her children's father, even if he was a coward, he'd given her two miracles and she couldn't find fault with him. In any case, she'd known what she was getting into this time around and she'd done it anyway. She knew she should go after someone stable, but where was the fun in that, the heart wants what it wants she reasoned, and hers always wanted the bad boy.

"Hana!" Tsume called to her daughter, who was far too busy wrestling with her nin-dogs, well more like nin-puppies, the Haimaru Sankyodai, to pay attention to her mother. At four years old, Hana was already showing signs of becoming a great ninja, the Haimaru triplets had chosen her despite the fact that nin-dogs didn't generally bond with anyone under the age of eight, and even more signs of being all Inuzuka. The tiny brunette's red tattooed face was fierce with concentration as she prepared to launch an attack on her furry friends. At the sound of Tsume's voice the Haimaru Sankyodai took off running, Hana erupted after them, faster than any child had the right to be, and Tsume stood in the doorway gaping at her toddler. Tsume's gape quickly spread to an ear to ear grin as she stared at her baby who had, without any instruction, just molded chakra.

"Hana!" Tsume called again, grin still plastered on her face, she shook herself out of a stunned silence. This was an amazing feat, but she still had to go bail out her two idiot genin from the police station. She caught her speeding child and forced her into her coat under the pretense that Izumo would teach her how to use his sword if she helped him get out of jail. While Tsume knew that would never happen – there was no way Izumo was getting anywhere near her daughter, with _any_ weapon, she wouldn't even trust that idiot with a potato gun—there was no reason her little ninja had to. Hana may have been on the fast track to becoming a great ninja, but her choices for love were going to need some work. If Tsume had to hear even one more time about how handsome Kamizuki Izumo is, and how cute he would be in a suit when he married his Hana-chan, and how they were going to have at least five children who would all have nin-dogs and use swords "just like Izumo-kun," she was going to snap. Of course in the presence of "Izumo-kun" poor little Hana-chan couldn't even say anything without becoming flustered and red faced, so Tsume really had nothing to worry about. Actually her biggest concern was how heartbroken her sweet little girl would be when she found out her precious twelve year old Izumo-kun was not interested in marrying the four year old daughter of his sensei, but was in fact smitten with the creepy snake sannin's prize pupil, Mitarashi Anko. Ever since the girl had caught him sneaking into the women's bathhouse and promptly kicked his sorry ass, Izumo had been fascinated with her. The deceptively small kunoichi had beaten him soundly in a matter of seconds. Orochimaru had actually had to step in to stop her from slitting his throat, and as it was she managed to put a small slice on the boys neck, with one of his own kunai no less, scarring his otherwise unmarred skin. Izumo wore it like a badge of honor; proof that his psycho lady love had indeed been gracious enough to touch him. Tsume cringed when she thought of the boys' future love life, sadomasochism held no thrills for her.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

Kotetsu lazily swung his feet back and forth as they dangled from the uncomfortable bench he was handcuffed to. A little short for his age, the genin was often able to hand his legs off things and wave his feet in the air, which he did at almost every possible occasion. At first his small stature had pissed him off, and Izumo's teasing did little to assuage that, but Tsume-sensei had said underestimating him because of his childlike appearance would be a mistake many shinobi would make, which would only work in his favor. Since then Kotetsu had taken every opportunity to behave as immaturely as possible. Taking it up as a personal challenge, the genin wanted as many people to underestimate him as possible, especially these stinking Uchiha police officers.

Wishing he had a big red lollipop to suck on, nothing said childlike innocence like a cherry stained set of lips and tongue, Kotetsu swung his head distractedly around the room feigning disinterest as he trained his ears on the conversation going on in the other room. It looked like little Uchiha Itachi, pride of the Uchiha clan, had gone and done something to get himself in trouble. The lower ranking officers were betting on whether or not the "little brat" would get what he deserved. Apparently Uchiha Fugaku was in his office waiting for his wife to arrive with his son, and everyone was all a twitter.

Kotetsu looked across the room at Izumo who was lounging on his bench, sprawled out with his eyes shut, pretending to be asleep. Kotetsu wasn't fooled, Izumo snored louder than an explosive tag EVERY time he slept, if there was no snoring, there was no sleeping going on. Obviously he too was interested in the Uchiha gossipers. Kotetsu continued listening but now only half heartedly. If there was something interesting Izumo would fill him in. Kami he was bored. He seriously hoped Rikku had called Tsume-sensei right away. He really didn't want to wait here forever, and it would be just like Rikku to go home, shower, do some needlepoint, or whatever it was girls liked to do when they weren't busy being kunoichi, before calling their sensei just so he and Izumo would have to sit around longer. It was unfair really. It had been Rikku's idea to fill the drop ceilings in the police station with thousands of crickets, they were good luck after all and who needed luck more than the people in charge of protecting the populace in a ninja village? And where was Rikku? Home, while he and Izumo were stuck in the stinking police station as usual.

But the plan had been ingenious really. Rikku had batted her big green eyes adoringly at Aburame Ko, the awkward fourteen year old chunin hadn't stood a chance against their charming blonde teammate, and he'd quickly agreed to control the crickets into the police headquarters. That had been the easy part, getting thousands of crickets into a building staffed with ninja without being seen was difficult under normal circumstances, practically impossible when all of said ninja possessed the sharingan.

Genjutsu wouldn't work. Nobody could trap an Uchiha in a genjutsu, except maybe another Uchiha, and certainly no genin level shinobi could do it, so that had been out of the question. Rikku's specialty was transportation jutsu and they briefly toyed with that idea but teleportation was difficult with more than one target and doubly tricky when there were thousands of living moving targets. For her to maintain control of the jutsu would require a massive use of chakra and discovery would be inevitable, so in the end they'd settled for a much simpler mode of delivery.

They loaded the crickets into large knapsacks and hoisted them onto their backs, being careful not to jostle the packs and harm their precious cargo. Rikku had used her mother's Anmitsu recipe, Kotetsu and Izumo had picked up the fruit, kanten jelly, and azuki beans from Izumo's grandfather and the three of them marched into the police station with their gift for the valiant law enforcers of Konoha, Ko didn't need or want to be anywhere near the action and opted to stay across the street at a tea shop. As Rikku began her speech about the most courageous, and don't forget handsome, men in Konoha Izumo began to hand the tray of Anmitsu to the officer directly in front of him. Kotetsu quickly nabbed the plate from his hands in an attempt to be the one who gave the gift. While Izumo's fist swung to clock Kotetsu in the jaw, knocking him back and splattering Anmitsu through the police station, Rikku slid the packs from their backs. A quick replacement jutsu later the knapsacks were in a little travelled hallway, Kotetsu and Izumo were engaged in a melee free-for-all in the police station lobby, Rikku was shrieking about her ruined dessert and generally making the scene an even bigger one, and thousands of crickets had begun their trek to spread through the building.

Izumo and Kotetsu had been restrained, and handcuffed to their current locations until someone could get them, which was actually not a part of the plan. The pair had expected to be able to leave with Rikku, as a trio, instead the "Dumbass Duo", so aptly named by their sensei were stuck on a bench. Rikku's tears and objections had managed to free the blonde ingénue but did little in the way of getting the boys released. Although they had granted her permission to get their sensei, rather than their parents to pick them up, so Kotetsu figured she was at least good for something. Even if he and Izumo were always in trouble for her ideas, he had to admit she did usually manage to get their punishments reduced. And at the rate things were going he might even be around for the first cricket concert.

Suddenly Izumo sat up on his bench, awake and alert, Kotetsu felt it too. An angry chakra erupted from down the hall and Uchiha Fugaku, police captain and Uchiha clan head stormed into the room dragging a small boy by the arm and whipping him around to push onto the bench next to Izumo.

"You defied me!" he raged. "Your father, head of your clan, chief of the Police in your village gave you an order and you disobeyed me! My own son is nothing but a criminal. You are no better than this trash here. If you want to behave like a thief then I'll treat you like one!"

Fugaku's face was purple with fury as he handcuffed his son to the bench next to Izumo. Crazily enough the boys face remained blank in the onslaught of his fathers' insane ranting. Uchiha Itachi remained passive and uncaring, which only served to enrage the man further. Kotetsu decided it was probably not a good time to remind him that he and Izumo were not in fact thieves, but actually only in trouble for fighting, and since it was over whom was going to give snacks to the police force, they could hardly be considered trash. But the mad man would be made aware of that fact all too soon; he could feel his sensei's chakra getting closer by the moment and it didn't' feel happy in any way.

A cricket chirped from somewhere in the rafters and Kotetsu laughed out loud.

A/N: Randa-chan and Yet-another-Gaara-fangirl both brought it to my attention that I need to pick up the pace here. I promise I am trying; I just have so much I want to fit in here that I'm not sure it can go that fast. I am working on scaling down the scope of the story, but I'm so attached to it I might not be able to. I hope you can bear with me and stick it out.

Much love to all those who reviewed. Thank you so much, you make opening my emails all the better.

Below are the Japanese words I most likely used incorrectly in the story

musuka = my sonkuso=shit


	9. Tangles

Chapter 9 – Tangles

Yawning loudly, Minato stretched and swung his feet up onto his desk where they landed with a loud thump, luckily avoiding knocking down the paperwork piled up all around him. With more waiting for him over on his conference table, and the imminent arrival of fresh pieces that were currently hiding from him and just waiting for the opportunity to strike, Minato knew that he would never ever be done with all the paperwork. Hiruzen-sama had failed to mention the mountain sized pile of documents that never ceased to stop growing, all of which demanded his own personal attention. Minato may have very well turned the old man down had he been aware of how boring the job was, which was why he was sure the pertinent information had been concealed or omitted until it was too late in the process to turn back.

As far as he was concerned, paperwork was a tool of evil; useless and counterproductive, there was no need for it. The ridiculous number of forms needed for even a simple genin level mission was mind boggling to the newly appointed Hokage. Minato was already sick of all the red tape that held up and back logged missions for weeks, and he'd barely spent any time in the office. He decided right then and there that he was changing policy; effective immediately he was abolishing it all. Well, he would still insist on preliminary briefings and post mission reports and debriefings, but all the rest of the crap was out. No wonder missions for the Leaf were drying up, who wanted to fill out the SF 356, a hulking 18 page monster detailing the mineral composition of your soil, and the soil in the surrounding areas just to have some genin come pull your weeds a week later, especially since the Grass village would do it right away, sans 356, for half the price? It was bullshit, and now it was out with the trash. Minato smiled at how much easier things would be now.

His smile fell slightly when he remembered Obito would be coming in soon. His most excitable student was sad that Rin was leaving, confused as to why he couldn't leave the hospital yet, and pissed that he hadn't been able to start his training again. Konoha's newest Hokage sighed, this wouldn't be easy. Obito would make it as difficult on his sensei as he possibly could, it just wasn't in the Uchiha's nature to go down without a fight and Minato knew one was coming. On the other hand, Minato had one hell of an ace in the hole with which to distract him and possibly push him in a different direction, he just wished his whole team was there. If there was anything Minato regretted about becoming Hokage (other than the whole paperwork debacle) it was that he was barely able to spend time with the members of Team Yellow Flash, and to him that was a travesty of the highest level. He often found himself missing Obito's enthusiastic babble, Rin's tendency to fuss over all of them like a concerned mother hen, and even Kakashi's entirely too serious demeanor and caustic eyebrow raising. He jealously wondered if their new mission partners appreciated it all as much as he had.

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Tree branches flew by in a blur as Shikaku and his team raced back to Konoha. They had been running at their top speed for hours now and Shikaku wondered how his chunin counterparts were holding up. You just never knew when one had had enough; they tried so hard to impress him that often times they failed to think about their own health. Just as the thought crossed his mind he noticed Asuma stumble, the weight of the girl on his back becoming too much for the stocky teenager to carry. Fortunately, his teammate Ebisu noticed it as well and had the girl transferred to his own back almost instantly. In the meantime Kurenai had steadied their teammates' footing while slipping him an Akamichi soldier pill, an act he was sure she thought had been on the sly, and they were back into formation practically seamlessly. Shikaku smirked, proud of the teamwork demonstration. Kami knew it had been a long time in coming.

As genin they hadn't been much to look at. Asuma's cocky attitude and overly arrogant demeanor had worked amazingly with his lack of respect for authority to make him the least desirable student graduating from the academy that year. Kurenai had reminded Shikaku of a hamster on speed; ridiculously tiny and always on the move, she talked to fast and never shut up about how she was going to be the greatest kunoichi Konoha has ever seen, unfortunately her plan for becoming the "greatest kunoichi Konoha has ever seen" did not include either of the two boys included in her cell. Yet in Shikaku's humble opinion, Ebisu had actually been the worst and biggest obstacle to achieving good teamwork. Always reading procedural manuals and constantly hung up on the correct way to fill out paperwork, his snotty nose had always been raised at something and regardless of who they were teamed up with or where they went, the brat always managed to start some kind of argument that would predictably escalate to physical attacks. As their jonin sensei Shikaku had found training them entirely too troublesome. He'd even tried to pawn them off on Inoichi, but fortunately the Hokage had refused his request, and while he'd been extremely angry at the time, now he couldn't imagine his life without them in it.

Their student teacher bond once again gave him pause as he thought about their current cargo. His team had been one of those given the task of searching out clues to the whereabouts of the recently named missing-nin Orochimaru and his promising young protégé, Mitarashi Anko. Team Shikaku had been assigned to explore the Sea Country, and at the start Kurenai had been excited about it, claiming there was a rumor that the sneaky bastard had labs located in the ocean carved caves at the base of Sea Country's _Kashi Zeppeki_, the precipice of death. A fall from those cliffs would not be survived, if the fall itself didn't do the job, the rocky coastline and murderously rough waves would certainly finish it. While it was entirely possible that the snake Sannin did have labs in the caves, Shikaku rarely put stock in gossip and rumors. If he was being honest, the Nara jonin would have to say a lab hidden in caves only accessible during low tide, that trapped its occupants inside during high tide was just impractical, so he had assumed their search would be fruitless and his team would find nothing, which suited him just fine, the reality of the mountain of paperwork they would have to complete if they actually did find something made his brow furrow and his face pale slightly.

Shortly after their arrival in Sea Country it became quite obvious that his own assumptions were wrong, the heavens had conspired against him and his team would in fact be finding something. The relevant information had come from Ebisu, which meant that it came packaged with a giant load of irrelevant information. The spectacled shinobi had questioned a young boy about whether anything strange had occurred or if he had seen any unsavory characters milling about the island.

"The boy said he'd heard the sound of a monster eating people down at the caves by the beach and then crying about it in remorse. When I asked how he knew it was the sound of people being eaten, he said that he had seen it. However, once pressed he admitted that was a lie, but he knew the sound for what it was because he'd distinctly heard the sound of breaking bones, which he knew because last summer he broke his ankle in a shark wrestling contest. I also found out this was another lie, while he had broken his ankle, it was actually due to slipping on a seaweed covered dock, and he had not actually participated in any shark wrestling contest. ("Well that's just totally shocking," Asuma remarked snidely.) Due to his ankle injury taking 8 weeks to heal, he was laid up in his parents' house down in the fishing village and could not make it out to his favorite restaurant. They apparently make the best Usu Zukuri in town, which he believes is due to the way they make their ponzu sauce. The establishment actually makes their own rice wine vinegar solely for the ponzu sauce, which they put more—"

"Does this have a fucking point Ebisu?" Asuma angrily growled over the droning chunin, having run out of patience long before he'd even got to the ponzu sauce portion of his ridiculously long story.

"Shikaku-sensei, he should not be permitted to speak to me using such vulgar language. I am relating the information just as I received it so that perhaps you will see things in a different light then I have," Ebisu spoke directly to the jonin, not even glancing at his steaming teammate. Shikaku sighed, he thought they had outgrown this; it seemed he'd been wrong about that too.

"Well maybe if you cut out all the bullshit and only gave us the information that is fucking useful I wouldn't have to use vulgar language on your scrawny ass!" Shikaku saw Asuma's face redden slightly at his own outburst when Kurenai rolled her eyes at the two of them. Well that could turn out to be an interesting development he thought, however right now wasn't the time for him to be thinking about it, right now it was simply a distraction because he didn't want to deal with the nonsense his idiotic team always seemed to be slopping around in.

"Ebisu, did he say anything else to indicate that their might actually be something in the cave? Based on your opinion of the witness was it all an imagined fairy tale or should we look into it?" Kurenai calmly questioned her ludicrously detail oriented teammate while inconspicuously sliding between the two males and diffusing the situation. Shikaku breathed a sigh of relief; maybe there was hope for his team yet.

"Hai, Kurenai-san. The boy mentioned that he'd heard screams coming from the cave when the tide was high and crying when it was low. While I do note that the boy did lie on several occasions, when he did so it was to embellish his own physical prowess, as such I believe his testimony to be mostly true and I suggest we search the caves while exercising extreme caution."

Luckily when they arrived at the cave in question the tide was out and the entrance was exposed. A low sobbing could be heard as they entered the naturally formed winding corridors, which further corroborated the boys' tale. Deeper in the cave, heavily shackled to a metal table, sat an emaciated Mitarashi Anko. Blood seemed to cover her skin from the top of her head, where it was thickly matted and clumping in her hair, to the bottoms of her feet, which were curled up beneath her. The skin on her wrists and ankles where the rusty manacles ground against her flesh was rubbed raw and dark bruises could be seen through the blood currently coating her body. At their approach her sniffling calmed and she looked up through her blood soaked hair. Anger and hatred clouded her grey eyes for a moment before the emotions were subdued and replaced with a look of pain and resignation; a gasp escaped her lips before she rasped, "Please just kill me quickly. Finish it."

Always empathetic, Kurenai was at the younger kunoichi's side in a comforting gesture before Shikaku could warn her against it.

"What happened to you Anko-chan? We'll get you out of here, don't worry we aren't going to kill you," soothed Kurenai's voice.

"Don't touch me!" the younger girl raged, slapping Kurenai's hands away from her. "Kill me or get out of here! It's not safe here for you. I can't control it, and the chains aren't going to be any help to you if you don't get out of here now! You need to leave. Go! Now!"

Shikaku looked at the girl again. Her small form had an air of defeat, something never before seen on Mitarashi Anko. This girl was just as cocky and arrogant as Asuma, maybe even more so, but she actually had the skill to back up. There was a reason the girl was Orochimarus' apprentice, he'd poured over pages and pages of genin lists before choosing Anko as his only student and forgoing the usual three man cell in favor of imparting all of his knowledge to her, she was a genius. However, the screaming kunoichi chained to the table was a far cry from the egotistic Mitarashi they had previously known. Where she had previously been calm and collected she was now emotional and completely crazed, and there was something new in her stare. Too late he realized what it was. Anko was afraid, and from what he could tell before she released a bone chillingly maniacal battle cry, she wasn't scared at all for herself.

"I told you t-to goooooooo!" She screeched again before a twisting black rash exploded from her neck, covering her entire body in the writhing black marks. An angry, evil chakra spilled from her pores so strongly that she bore a faint purple glow. Once Kurenai jumped back from the table Team Shikaku were all in attack formation. The three chunin spared him a glance; waiting for orders on how he wanted them to proceed.

"Stay back!" he shouted. "She told us the shackles won't help!" As if to reiterate her point, Anko's hands shot out, extending from the wrist below her handcuffs, catching Asuma around the throat. Before he could give another command Anko's arms ignited in flames as Ebisu's fire release charred her flesh and Kurenai pulled Asuma out of her death grip.

"Do not kill her. Incapacitate her. We have to get her back to Konoha!" Shikaku shouted above the ensuing chaos.

When the smoke began to dissipate Anko could be seen clutching at her arm, black swirls danced across her glowing skin, and she giggled insanely; her flesh was undamaged. Suddenly Asuma's chakra enhanced trench knives launched across the room from behind the kunoichi catching the chain links in their path and slamming into the cave walls behind them while pulling the kunoichi with them, effectively pinning Mitarashi to the wall, where a chakra laden punch was delivered to the back of her skull knocking her out cold, courtesy of Yuhi Kurenai. That was when their run through the treetops had begun. None of them wanted the adolescent girl waking up again before they were back in Konoha.

Shikaku knew from Asuma's expressions and body language that he'd wanted to kill the girl, just as she'd asked them to. This to Shikaku's way of thinking, was the very reason that they shouldn't. Something was wrong with the girl to be sure, but before the transformation she'd tried to protect her fellow Konoha shinobi, and really, wasn't that the most important thing? Again, he thought about how much he cared for his students, and the bonds they had created, and how he would never want any harm to come to them, and then he looked at the blood soaked little girl knocked unconscious being dragged through the woods, and wondered how Orochimaru could have let it happen to her.

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Exiting the fourth shop in a row from which she hadn't bought anything Rin felt her stomach growl loudly. She was getting pretty hungry but she wanted to get gifts for her old team before she ate lunch. The problem was she couldn't find anything worthy of them, and without someone to help her shop she never would. She only ever found good gifts when she went shopping with someone else. Unfortunately everyone she could shop with, she was shopping for. The day was slowly going downhill and she could tell her shopping was going to be a bust. She knew she was being silly by trying to find something worthy of the men on her team. Nothing she could ever buy, no matter how expensive, could be good enough for her boys. Good enough for her family. They were everything to her and she didn't want to leave them, unfortunately training with Tsunade-hime was the greatest opportunity to come her way in a long time, and her boys could only benefit from the skills she would pick up from the legendary Sannin.

Letting out a deep breath as her stomach growled again, Rin turned, defeated, toward the food bazaar. As she stepped out into the street she was bowled over by a bright green blur. Then just as she was about to hit the ground, the same previously mentioned bright green blur caught her in his arms, picking her up bridal style in the process.

"I am so sorry beautiful flower of Konoha! In my youthful pursuit of springtime I failed to look where I was going and almost uprooted the most beautiful bloom of them all!"

"P-put me d-down, please," Rin stammered; she was completely flummoxed by the exceedingly loud teenager currently holding her up in the middle of the street declaring her beauty to the rest of the village.

"Why of course my youthful blossom! I should have known that a bloom as lovely as you would not want to be carried in the springtime of youth. I shall acquiesce to your request." He returned Rin's feet to the ground, immediately jumping back and giving her a thumbs up, wearing a smile so bright the sun glinting off his front tooth temporarily blinded her.

"Thank you… umm… I'm sorry; I don't know your name."

"Oh, how rude of me!" he exclaimed. "I am Maito Gai! Konoha's Noble Green Beast!"

"Nice to meet you, Maito-san. My name is Rin, and thanks for your help. I guess I'll see you around."

"Rin-san! What a beautiful name for a beautiful flower. Would you like to be my girlfriend?"

Rin's jaw dropped. This guy had to be kidding, didn't he? She barely knew him, why would she be his girlfriend? Not to mention the fact that he was wearing a bright green leotard with orange legwarmers and had a bowl haircut, the boy was a walking fashion disaster, and there was no way she was going to be his girlfriend. Why did she always attract weirdoes? Couldn't any of the boys she liked declare her beautiful? Like maybe Kakashi or Iruka? Why did it have to be this crazy guy?

"Umm… I don't think that would be a very good idea, Maito-san."

"Please, call me Gai. I will one day win your heart, so you might as well be my girlfriend now!" As he declared his intentions at the top of his lungs he stuck out his arm for Rin to give him hers.

Blushing profusely, as everyone in the street watched his shenanigans; Rin had never been so utterly mortified. There was no way she was dating this idiot, she just hoped he'd go away soon.

"Gomen, but I don't think I should be your girlfriend Gai-san."

"But why my flower? My love for you is bursting out of my skin! And please, notice my handsome manly features. Why don't you want to be my girlfriend?"

Rin gaped; she didn't know what to say that wouldn't sound completely mean, and who knew when she would see this guy again. He was also a shinobi so she could be put on a mission with him at any time, if she was cruel to him it could jeopardize a mission. Why couldn't he just take a hint, she wasn't interested. What was wrong with this Gai? Why couldn't he just take her first answer?

"Well… umm… I… uhh… I just can't."

"You can't?" Gai asked loudly. "Buy why? Our love is like a rose bud Rin-san. Without proper care it won't bloom. You need to by my girlfriend so we can turn this bud into a giant rosebush of love!"

"Sorry Gai, I can't be your girlfriend," Rin said again, this time in her most authoritative voice. "I already to—"

"—have a boyfriend," finished a distinctly male voice from behind her as a soft warm hand took her own.

"Oh, I see! Well in that case we will battle for the affections of Rin-san. One day she will see what the power of youth can do and then she will choose me. Until then I wish you the best of luck my worthy opponent. Let the power of youth explode!" With those words of encouragement Konoha's Noble Green Beast disappeared in a green blur.

Already completely embarrassed over Gai's antics, Rin was afraid to turn around and see her savior. Would she now be further embarrassed or need a savior from this boy as well? Contemplating her next move, Rin felt her "boyfriend" give her hand a comforting squeeze.

"You don't have to be my girlfriend. I just said that to help you out. Of course if you wanted to by my girlfriend then… umm… well if you wanted to be… I would… umm… I would really be happy."

Softened by his shy but sweet words Rin turned to see Iruka. A smile lit up her face and she placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. "I would like to be your girlfriend, but I'm leaving in 3 days for my training."

Iruka smiled warmly at her. "That's okay, you can be my girlfriend for the next three days then, umm… just try it out until you leave, and then if you decide to you can be mine while you're away."

Rin smiled back at him, "Okay, would you like to come shopping with me?" Maybe today would be a good day after all.

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A/N: Well here's another chapter, I'm not completely happy with this, and I think the third section might be a little too corny, but it was valentine's day when I wrote it so I thought it should have a little sweetness. Also, currently in this story Rin is 13 to Iruka's 11, so there will be nothing sexual, beyond a kiss on the cheek and holding hands. I just wanted to clear that up so nobody would think I was going to go there.

Please review if you liked, and even more so, please review if you didn't like it, that way I can figure out where I am going wrong. Thank you so much just for reading I'm happy for every hit I get.


	10. Paying the Piper

A/N: Sorry for the poor quality of this chapter. It's more transitional than anything else, I wrote it and rewrote it several times, and I'm still unhappy with it, but I figure with it out of the way I can move along. Also, I got an anonymous review from a "Boom" that pointed out my poor spelling so I corrected it in the previous chapters, I don't know if that is going to spam the mailboxes of you wonderful people that have put my story on alert or not, so if it did I am very sorry.

The usual disclaimers apply; I don't own Naruto or any of the wonderful characters in it. And now on with the show.

Chapter 10 – Paying the Piper

Hana skipped gleefully down the Konoha thoroughfare hand in hand with her mother; the Haimaru Sankyodai nipping playfully at her heels, while Kuromaru strode alongside regally, scolding the others endlessly for their bad behavior. Today was a good day, the sun was warm on her face, a cool breeze wafting through the village carried the scent of orchids, her favorite flower, and she was happy as a clam. Just this morning she'd figured out how to run as fast as Kaijin*. The youngest of the triplets, he was also the fastest, and usually always faster than poor little Hana-chan, but today through the jumbled thoughts, feelings, and emotions he'd communicated to her she'd been able to discern the process of molding chakra into her limbs, though she didn't actually know that was what she was doing. All the littlest Inuzuka knew was that by doing it she could leave Heisui in her dust, – granted he was the laziest of the three – easily outpace Kumari, and run side by side with Kaijin. On top of that miracle, she was going to see her Izumo-kun, and he was even going to teach her how to use a sword. She couldn't have imagined herself a better day.

Hana could tell her mother was not sharing in the same feeling of happiness about seeing Izumo-kun – at all – but she chose not to let that bother her, after all, if her mom punished Izumo-kun and Kotetsu they would be spending more time around the Inuzuka compound, and that was always a good thing.

"*Haha," Hana tugged on her mothers' hand to get her attention. "What did Izumo-kun do? Why are you mad at him? Isn't he a good ninja anymore?"

"Yes Hana, Izumo is a good ninja; he's just not a good boy today."

"Why Haha? What did he do?"

"Well, Rikku-chan made a yummy animitsu for Konoha's nice policemen, and when she went to give it to them Izumo and Kotetsu started fighting and smacked into her nice present. And when they hit it, the animitsu splashed all over the police station and the nice police men working there, making a big giant mess. And now, they're in trouble and your momma has to go get them out of it like she always does."

Hana giggled unabashedly, animitsu all over the policemen and their office was a funny thing. "Kaasan? Did you ever think that maybe Izumo-kun didn't do it? Maybe it was that bad Kotetsu. He's always getting Izumo-kun into trouble. Haha, maybe Kotetsu is doing this so you won't like my Izumo-kun and you'll never let him marry his Hana-chan."

"I don't think that's it sweetie, but you can ask him when we get there," Tsume smiled down at her offspring, inwardly chuckling at Hana's loyalty to her student, in her daughter's eyes that boy could do no wrong.

About three blocks before the police station Hana felt her mother suddenly tense up and stiffen with anger. "Hana-chan, you know where the police station is, right?"

Hana nodded at her mother.

"Alright, then I want you to hurry up and get there, Mom's a little worried about Izumo-kun and Kotetsu, so I'm going to run over and check up on them. Kuromaru, Heisui, Kaijin, and Kumari will take you right to me, ok?"

"Okay, Haha," Hana eyed her mother determinedly. "You run fast mom, make sure my Izumo-kun is safe."

Tsume nodded at her daughter, secure in the knowledge that the nin-dogs would get her to the police station safely and took off to save her foolish students. The insane amount of angry chakra pouring out of the building from her former teammate was inexcusable for the offense her students were accused of and she was going to hand that mighty Uchiha his ass on a platter.

Hana watched as her mother practically popped out of sight and smiled merrily at her new found freedom. Here she was in the heart of Konoha with no supervision and she intended to get some exploring done. She turned at the very next alley she passed, only to run directly into Kuromaru.

"Where do you think you're going Hana?" he asked, being the Inuzuka pack leader he was the only nin-dog that could actually speak out loud, and to Hana's ears he sounded a bit bossy.

"Exploring Kuro-chan!" she responded exuberantly, hoping that if she put enough excitement into her delivery some of it would rub off on the serious canine, sometimes he just wasn't any fun, in fact, Hana didn't think Kuromaru was ever any fun.

"We most certainly are not. We are following your mother directly to the police station, as we've been ordered to do."

"Are you sure Kuro-chan?" Hana asked with a wicked grin.

"I'm sure," replied the nin-dog at the same time Hana summoned her chakra and took off down the alley, only to smash right back into Kuromaru.

"That's it Hana, you have forfeited your right to walk to the police station," he barked imposingly.

Hana smiled triumphantly, secure in her win. After all Kuromaru had just said she didn't have to go to the police station. "Well, then let's go to the weapon shop. I could use some new kunai."

As she stepped off in a random direction that she was somehow sure would take her to the weapon shop, her feet were lifted off the ground and she found herself being carried in Kuromaru's mouth by the scruff of her collar.

"_Heeheehee_," Hana could hear the triplets laughing and knew how funny they thought the situation was. "Shut up!" she yelled to them.

Moments later Kuromaru dropped his charge unceremoniously on the steps of the Konoha police station. Dogs were not permitted on the premises, not even nin-dogs. Hana stood up huffily and began smoothing out her coat and tidying up her appearance. She didn't want her mother knowing she had tried not to follow her orders, even though she knew Kuromaru was a tattle-tale.

Striding purposefully up to the main door, the tiny Inuzuka pushed heartily against the heavy teak door barely managing to crack it open. "_Heeheehee_," she heard again from the triplets and something that roughly translated to, _I guess little brats aren't allowed inside either._ Hana shot them a dirty look and stomped her feet. Setting her jaw determinedly the youngest and most stubborn Inuzuka smashed her small body into the door, managing to open it just enough to squeeze through, though it was tight enough that for a split second she thought she might not make it in alive and then she wouldn't ever get to marry Izumo-kun.

Once inside, breathing a sigh of relief, Hana looked around. The main lobby, which she was currently standing in, was empty of people. There were several glass windows looking into various rooms, but all were darkened and their signs read "CLOSED." To any casual observer the building appeared deserted, however due to the large amount of chakra being expunged from down the hall, as well as the heightened smell of anger pouring through the building Hana knew exactly where she would find her mother.

Reaching the room that the ruckus was coming from, she peeked in. Nosey to a fault, apparently this was where all the policemen could be found. Also, to her left, chained to a bench sat a fidgety Kotetsu, while on her right, directly across from the fidgeter was her precious Izumo-kun handcuffed to an identical bench. Chained next to him was a small dark haired boy about her own age with a red handprint on his face. Past the benches, the room widened into a large pool of desks, doors lined the back wall leading into offices for the higher ups. All the policemen Hana hadn't seen since arriving at the station were milling around in here. Some standing, some perching on the ends of desks, and some lounging in their desk chairs with their feet up, but all – to the man—had their eyes glued to the back left corner office, listening and commenting on the argument taking place inside, completely ignoring their antsy prisoners.

From the chief's office came the loud antagonistic bark of her mother, followed by the vehemently hostile shouts of the Uchiha police captain, and they certainly were not saying any nice things to one another. Hana noted that her mother was going to have to put quite a bit of money in the curse jar tonight.

"Hana-chan!" a loud whisper came from her right, and she blushed. Izumo-kun was talking to her!

"K-Konichiwa, Izumo-kun," Hana greeted him with a shy smile.

"Sshhh…" Kotetsu whispered from the other side. "Can you pick locks yet Hana-chan?"

"Hai," she said quietly, while feeling a little insulted. All shinobi could pick locks.

"Then can you pick these and get us out of here?" Kotetsu asked. "We've been here all day with no food."

"Gomen nasai, Kotetsu-san. Kaasan is very mad at you for being bad boys. I shouldn't help you escape. She will want to yell at you."

"Please, Hana-chan," Izumo begged. "We've been here sooooooooooo long and I'm hungry. They're never going to be done fighting."

Damn! Hana didn't want to say no to Izumo-kun, but her mother would be so angry, she might not even let her play with the triplets if she did that. "S-sumimasen, Izumo-kun. But I can't, Kaasan will be too mad."

Kotetsu and Izumo sighed heavily and slumped back against their respective benches in defeat.

"Gomen nasai, Inuzuka-san," a soft but intriguingly pleasant voice came to her from Izumo-kun's direction. "I understand why you will not help them, as you do not wish to anger your mother, but could you help me? I have someone I need to see in the hospital."

As endearing as the boy sounded, Hana was suspicious; after all, he too was handcuffed in the police station. She narrowed her gaze and eyed him sideways, "And just who are you?"

"Sumimasen, Inuzuka-san, I forgot my manners. I am Uchiha Itachi."

"Well Uchiha-san, why should I let you out?"

"Because I haven't done anything wrong. I will tell you the whole story if you get me out of here. But we must go quickly before anyone notices."

"Hmmm…" Hana thought it over, now that she was getting a better look, this boy was even cuter then Izumo-kun, and she did like hearing stories, but there was one pesky little problem. "Even if I get you out of here, my mother's nin-dog Kuromaru is right outside. He won't let me go anywhere."

Ever the opportunist Kotetsu cut in, "He will if we go with you and tell him Tsume-sensei said you could. Which Izumo and I will certainly do if you help us out, we'll even buy you some dango."

"Okay," she said, after a short moment of thinking, and set about unlocking Itachi's handcuffs. Woohoo! She was finally going to get to explore some new places, plus she got to hear a story from the cute Uchiha boy, Kotetsu was buying her some dango, and best of all Izumo-kun was coming. When Itachi's cuffs clicked open she moved to help Izumo while Itachi unlocked Kotetsu's and the four of them snuck quietly out the front door. Hana noticed she could hear crickets, even audible over the screaming match in the back.

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Obito groaned as he climbed the last fifty stairs to the top of Hokage Tower. His feet were sore and his legs ached, maybe he shouldn't have taken the stairs fresh out of the hospital. Upon introspection perhaps the elevator would have been a much better choice, but his damn Uchiha pride had prevented it from happening. Sure, it would have been easier on his decimated body, but he just knew that if he'd taken it up, consequent to reaching his destination the doors would have slid open to reveal that damn smug bastard Kakashi, who would have winked at him as if to say, "I knew you were a lazy bastard," or "This is why your still a chunin," or something else equally as infuriating. So to prevent this from happening he had taken the stairs, and now he was completely regretting it.

Hobbling up the final stretch he made it to the huge double doors that led to the Hokage's office. Not wanting to look weak in front of his former sensei Obito asked the secretary for a few minutes and sat down to catch his breath and compose himself. While his breathing stabilized he thought about his plan to stay with Rin and was fairly certain it would work. Really he could be quite brilliant when he put his mind to it, or so _he_ thought anyway. If only he had a little more confidence that Minato-sensei would go for it.

Now, if he knew the hokage, which he was pretty sure he did, the man was sure to be nervous about the upcoming discussion. Minato had never been good at setting rules, arguing his point, or asserting authority, and upsetting people always bothered him far worse than the receiving party. Obito just knew he was in there dreading the meeting, knowing how upset his student would be probably had him wearing holes in the carpet. If Obito could play up his anger, make a statement his hokage couldn't ignore, then Minato-sensei would probably cave to his very reasonable demands. Then it came to him, Obito believed he had found a way to unnerve his former teacher enough to get him to agree to his request, now he just hoped he had enough chakra for his plan to work.

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Minato slouched down on his chair wishing the day was over. He hoped against hope that Obito would continue being later and later until it was time to close and he had missed this altercation completely. His backup was sitting back in his private chambers awaiting his signal when Minato felt Obito's chakra signature growing outside the door. Thinking this was as good a time as any, and not wanting to face his angry student alone, he pushed the phone's page button, "He's here, why don't you come on in."

His surprise guest had barely made it out of his private chamber when the giant main doors to his office exploded in a hail of wood chips and Obito flew through the air shouting, "Dainamikku Entori!"

"Wow! That was amazing!" Minato looked over to see his backup weeping at the beauty of Obito's ridiculous entry and cringed.

"Obito! What were you thinking? Are you insane? That was completely out of line!" Minato shouted at the insubordinate Uchiha.

"Gomen nasai, Hokage-sama," Obito replied sheepishly, glancing around at the amount of damage he caused. "I didn't think my actions through to their conclusion sensei. Ummm… Also, I didn't think the door would explode quite like that. I really thought it would just swing open kinda fast and I'd jump through. I guess the technique needs some work. I'm really sorry sensei."

"I think it's perfect just the way it is! A wonderful technique that utilized the full power of youth! Please don't change it at all!" Minato's backup shouted exuberantly.

"It was pretty awesome, huh?" Obito asked scratching his head.

"Ugh," Minato groaned. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Well actually, I was hoping you would ask that," he responded, instantly morphing from apologetic into his carefully crafted used car salesman persona. "As you know, I was recently crushed into a pulpy sludge in a sack and Tsunade-hime and Shizune-san saved my life, giving me a whole new respect for medical ninjas. Without their medical jutsu I would certainly have died a mushy mess. Instead I am standing here in front of you today, the First disowned Uchiha. Now I know to most people this would be an unsettling development, but let me tell you something Hokage-sama, for me this is _not_ the case. Now I know you are dying to know why, so let me tell you."

"Okay," Minato said. (And here it comes, he thought.)

"Well here it is. Prior to this incident there has never been an Uchiha possessed of the sharingan permitted to study medical jutsu. Even among the Uchiha healers there aren't any with an active sharingan. In the mighty Uchiha clan all members who have activated their kekkei genkai are required to train for combat. In my opinion, this is a terrible travesty sensei. I know you have seen the enormous amount of destruction that can be done with the sharingan, now imagine how amazing it would be if that power was used for healing jutsu. If it was used for saving lives instead of taking them! Now imagine if –"

"No. You are not going with Tsunade," Minato interrupted.

"But hokage-sama to be a medic-nin is my heart's greatest desire," the boy begged. "Since Tsunade-hime saved my life, there is nothing that I want to do more then be a medic-nin and help others. Please let me go with Tsunade and Shizune. There is so much I can learn and maybe one day I can return the favor and save someone's life just like mine was."

"No Obito."

"But why sensei? Why?" he practically sobbed.

"For several reasons, buddy. The foremost not being that you just tried to feed me a pile of horseshit, though it is up there, nobody likes a liar. You have never been interested in medical jutsu before, I remember you refusing to even learn a simple on for healing cuts and bruises because it was a waste of time. Another thing is that you don't have the necessary chakra control. Tsunade-hime would have to waste years getting your precision up to snuff. And most importantly your body is not ready. Your medic, the great Tsunade-hime, has demanded you complete your rehabilitation just as she set it out. This as you know, means you are not to mold any chakra for three months, doing so could damage your chakra pathways irreparably. They had to rebuild your tenketsu completely and they need that entire time to stabilize. Who knows how much damage you did with that stunt you just pulled. As such, you will be training only in taijutsu for these next few months, and I'll be equipping you with chakra inhibitors in case you are tempted to do anything foolish."

Obito's face fell. His once hopeful demeanor did a complete 180 and the only disowned Uchiha wanted to throw up. "Only taijutsu? For three months?"

"Yes, for three months. And I've arranged for you to have a motivational coach to help you out and push you through the difficult parts. This here is Maito Gai."

Obito just stared at the green jumpsuit clad boy with giant eyebrows, and then he slightly smiled in an attempt to be polite.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Uchiha-san. The power of our youth shall unite and prevail against this most terrible setback to your dream. At the end of this three months you will be well on your way to becoming the first Uchiha medic-nin. I will do my best to make your dream come true!" Gai exclaimed before giving Obito his patented "good guy" pose. "Then you must teach me that dynamic entry. I have never seen its equal!"

"Arigato, Maito-san," Obito said softly. "I appreciate your help."

"Dewa mata, Gai-kun," Minato dismissed the blindingly green youth.

Minato stood and walked over to his depressed shinobi. "It's going to be okay Obito."

"Is it? How sensei? How? Everything is ruined. My life is ruined. I've been thrown out of my own family. I have no place to live. You aren't my teacher anymore, and worst of all Rin, the girl I love more than anything in the world, is leaving and I can't do anything about it. I don't know what to do. My world is falling apart around me and there is nothing I can do," the teenager broke down sobbing and Minato's heart broke. He held Obito in a tight hug and let him cry out his sorrows.

"Obito, look at me," he said. "Everything is not ruined. Your life is not ruined, and your world isn't going to crumble, it's just going to be different. I will always be your teacher and friend, regardless of what hat sits on my head. Anytime you need me I will be there for you, to listen, to advise, or to help you in any way that you need. And as for having no place to live, that's just not true. Kakashi has volunteered to have you live with him. Even if your clan is no longer in your life, you have a family. Kakashi, Rin, me and Kushina, and the new baby, will always be your family and we'll always love you. Even if you shatter our doors into a million pieces, and we don't really like you at the moment, we'll still love you. Got it?"

Obito looked at him through tear soaked eyelashes, "I love you too sensei. Please don't ever leave us."

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A loud breath could be heard down the hospital corridor as Tsunade exhaled heavily. Jiraiya would be arriving shortly and until then she was busy trying to get as much nutrition into Mitarashi Anko's body as she possibly could. Even at her best, a healthy Anko was tiny for her age. Not short, but her bone structure was small, dainty even. Most of the girls who had been in her academy classes were between 75 and 80 pounds; Anko was lucky if she came in at 70, soaking wet. Now though, in this emaciated state, the scrawny girl barely weighed 60. She resembled a bag of bones, her face was gaunt and haggard and her slight body bony and cadaverous. If Tsunade hadn't felt the girls' pulse herself she would have sworn her body couldn't be alive.

Tsunade seethed in anger over the treatment Orochimaru had given his sole pupil. In addition to the skeleton like appearance, her former sensei had gifted Anko with some kind of curse mark that was eating away at her sanity, leading her to attack her friends and family unprovoked. Tsunade wanted to get as many vitamins and calories into her young malnourished body before Jiraiya looked at the seal, sure that anything they could do for her would take a toll on her already wasted body.

"Tsunade-sama," her heretofore unconscious patient croaked and looked up into her medic's eyes. "Am I going to die? Are you and Jiraiya-sama going to have to kill me?"

"What?" a befuddled Sannin asked. "We're not going to kill you. Why would you think that Anko?"

"Because I hurt people. I can't control this, it's too hard. I didn't… I didn't mean to attack Sarutobi-san. I tried, I really did. I tried to tell them what would happen. I didn't ask for this, I don't even know what it is," Anko's small body shook as tears slowly dripped down her face and she began weeping. "He… he… asked me to… to help him. I just… I just wanted help my sensei; I wanted him to be proud of me. And then he bit me, and he hurt me. Why? Why did he do this to me? What did I do? I was always good, and I… I always did what he said. I just wanted to help him like he asked. Did I do something wrong?"

"I don't know why he did this Anko-chan," Tsunade soothed as she sat on the hospital bed and embraced the undersized kunoichi. "I just don't know why he does anything he does. But Jiraiya and I are going to do everything in our power to help you, okay?"

Anko sniffled and made a low whimpering noise. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama. But you probably shouldn't sit so close to me. I don't know what I'll do and I don't want to hurt you too."

Tsunade did as the girl asked and moved to the other side of the room, just as Jiraiya arrived.

"Ah, our little Anko-chan's gotten into some trouble, huh?" he bellowed jokingly in an attempt to lighten the girl's mood. As Orochimaru's former teammates and friends he and Tsunade had been around the girl somewhat frequently and knew her better than most other ninja in the village, the snake Sannin had been quite solitary in turn making Anko a mystery to everyone, and he held a soft spot for the usually forward and outspoken shinobi. "I hear you've got a doozy of a curse seal. Why don't you let Uncle Jiraiya take a peek at it?"

"Okay," she said while lowering her head to give him a good view of her neck. "Just don't touch it. When anyone touches it I lose it, and I don't want to transform again."

"No problem sweetie. I'll keep my hands to myself."

As Tsunade watched Jiraiya flinched backward at the sight of the seal, wincing and shaking his head. This was obviously not a good sign and again she cursed Orochimaru for the atrocious crimes he'd visited upon his only student.

"Anko, I'm going to ask you some questions about the seal and I need you to be completely honest with your answers, ok?" Jiraiya said, and Tsunade thought she'd never heard him sound so serious.

"Ok," Anko nodded in understanding.

"Can you tell when the seal is going to activate?"

"Yes, right before it happens."

"How do you know when it's about to happen?"

"All of a sudden I feel really angry for no reason and my neck starts to itch."

"Did anyone else get this seal that you know about?"

"When I woke up I was in a room with 9 other people. They were all dead and Orochimaru-sensei said that only 1 in 10 had survived. Making me the one. I don't think he gave it to any more but I can't be sure."

"Have you ever been able to stop the transformation?"

Anko bit her lower lip and hung her head shamefully. "Hai," she answered so softly they almost didn't hear her.

"You were?" Tsunade asked. "You said earlier that you couldn't stop it."

The girl took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean… I… I… I lied to… to you. I stopped it… once."

"Why did you lie Anko?"

Looking up, her eyes wet with unshed tears, Anko blubbered, "Because you would want me to do it again and I can't."

Tsunade opened her mouth to ask her why but Jiraiya cut her off before she could. "What did you have to do to stop it Anko?"

"I had to let it in. It's hard to explain, but it's like the seal is alive, like its own evil little person sitting on my shoulder that wants to get in and be in charge. It makes me think awful thoughts and wants me to do terrible things. When I ignore it I can't stop the transformation. It just overwhelms me and takes over my body, and it hurts so much, like my body is on fire and I'm caught and can't do anything. It's like I'm trapped in my body just burning away. But the one time I listened to it and I opened myself up, then I was able to control it, and it didn't hurt. It felt amazing, like I could do anything. Nothing was out of my reach. But in that time I wanted to hurt everyone else. Kill them all in horrible ways. And I liked it. I liked wanting to murder everyone I know and care about. When I realized I liked it I knew something was wrong and I managed to shut it out. But when I turned it off I felt filthy on the inside, like my soul was tainted and a piece of what makes me _me _was missing. I lied because I don't want to do it again. I don't want to lose anymore of me, with less of me somehow there's more of it, and less of myself to fight it. I don't want to like hurting my friends."

"It's okay Anko," Jiraiya put a hand on her shoulder quieting her down. "We won't ask you to. I'm going to talk with Tsunade in the hallway. If you need anything just give a shout okay?"

Anko nodded her head pitifully and set about calming herself down while Tsunade followed Jiraiya out into the hall.

"Hime, this isn't good," he said while frowning and slowly shaking his head. "That mark is the Ten no Juin, the Cursed Seal of Heaven."

"No!" Tsunade gasped. "I thought he was ordered to stop research on that."

"He was, apparently he ignored the order, because that's what it is."

"Can we remove it?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Well what are we going to do? We have to help her." _It's our fault, Orochimaru is our mess, _went unsaid.

"I'm going to have to find Orochimaru's old research, but from what I remember, I think we have to kill her, so she can be reborn. It's hard to explain, but if we don't do it the seal will corrode her body and mind, and corrupt her chakra. Slowly killing her very painfully."

"What?" Tsunade asked incredulously. "We have to kill her? I told her she was going to be okay."

"She will be. Once she dies, the seal will bring her back to life. She'll be stronger, faster, and tougher, with deeper chakra reserves then she would ever have had without it. Best of all, she'll be able to control the seal without, as she says, losing herself."

"Only because she'll have lost all of herself Jiraiya. How are we supposed to tell her to let us kill her?"

"You don't have to tell me. I'm sorry; I was eavesdropping the whole time. Sorry, force of habit. You know," Anko shrugged her shoulders. "That whole sneaky ninja thing is hard to turn off, especially if it's about yourself."

"Oh Anko," Tsunade fretted. "I'm so sorry; we should have gone down the hall. You shouldn't have had to hear that."

"No, it's better this way. It's better that I know," the small girl firmed her jaw. "Jiraiya-sama, can you please go look up how to do this?"

"Of course Anko-chan," Jiraiya confirmed. "You'll probably be able to hold out a few months before we have to do this, and Tsunade can get you something for the pain. We can keep you here to stop the transformations—"

"Hell no! I want to get this dying thing over as soon as possible, and get back to my training. If this is gonna make me all stronger and faster and all that jazz, I'm gonna make the most of it, and use this "gift" to kick my sensei's ass," Anko interrupted vehemently, sounding, Tsunade noted, like the Mitarashi Anko of old.

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2nd A/N: Here are the meanings of the names I gave to the Sankyodai triplets in case anyone was interested, also if I poorly used any Japanese I will include the translation here.

The triplet's names:

*Kaijin-ash, embers, complete destruction, *Kumari-cloudiness, cloudy weather, shadow, *Heisui-calm water

Poorly used Japanese (sorry for butchering the language):

Haha=mommy

Kaasan=mother

Sumimasen=sorry or excuse me

Dewa mata=See you later


	11. Goodbyes

A/N: This chapter's pretty heavy on the fluff, sorry but I guess I felt fluffy…

Chapter 11: Goodbyes

Iruka leaned back on his bed and stared at the ticking clock on his nightstand. 5:32 A.M. In just 28 minutes the most perfect girl in the whole world, and his current girlfriend, which may have influenced his opinion that she was the most perfect girl in the world, would be leaving the village. Worse still, neither of them had any clue as to when she would be returning. It could be a few months or even a few years; they just didn't know. Oddly, while saddened that she would be gone, he wasn't worried about her safety. Rin would be with Tsunade-hime; exceptional medic and legendary Sannin, if something managed to get to Rin before her powerful fists could pound them into a messy pulp, she could heal the damage. In all of Iruka's many years of life he had never had more faith in one person then he did in Tsunade, even if he was a little unrealistic in his unwavering conviction. Until she had returned home it didn't look like his grandmother would last to see the coming winter, yet since Tsunade's medical treatment she had returned home and was now in the process of digging up and replanting her old vegetable garden; a past time she'd been incapable of engaging in for over two years. Tsunade-hime was a Fire Country treasure as far as Iruka was concerned and he was sure his girlfriend would be safe with her.

5:40 A.M. He bolted out of bed and ran out the front door. Rin had told him to get to the gates a little early. She'd been sure her teammates would come to see her off and she had asked him to arrive a little earlier so she could have some time with just him. As he rushed down Konoha's main street he suddenly stopped, panic stricken, he didn't have time to run back home if he'd forgotten it, and he frantically searched his pockets. Fingertips brushing the object in question he breathed a sigh of relief as he took off running again. As he neared the gates he caught site of Rin leaning against a post; she smiled as recognition dawned on her face and she waved at him.

"Iruka-kun," she greeted him happily. "I'm really glad you came. I wanted to tell you something before everyone else gets here."

"There was no way I was missing this Rin-chan," he responded. "I don't know when you're going to be back and I don't want you to forget me. You'll be having all these fun adventures and it might be hard to recall boring little Iruka."

"I won't forget you silly," she assured him. I just wanted to tell you how important you are to me. I know I haven't known you that long but you've been so good to me. So I wanted to say thank you. You were there for me through Obito's surgery and I just wanted you to know I really appreciate it. You cheered me up and I don't think I would have made it without you. You're such a good friend and you barely even knew me, I don't deserve someone so nice. Just thank you, so much, for being you."

"Well, I had ulterior motives," he admitted, smiling bashfully. "My grandmother always told me I should be nice to pretty girls; they might be tempted to grant my wish and give me a kiss."

Rin's grin widened, and then she leaned toward him kissing him, right on the lips. As far as Iruka was concerned, he was in heaven. Her lips were soft like velvet against his own, her hair smelled lightly of lavender, and for an added dramatic effect, he was sure he could hear birds chirping in celebration, just for him. When she pulled back his cheeks were blooming to a bright red, and he just couldn't, for the life of him, stop smiling like an idiot. He was just glad Hayate wasn't there to laugh at him.

"I guess I got my wish," he said softly. "Thank you Rin-chan."

She smiled and laughed affectionately, sounding to him like a heavenly being. "You're so sweet Iruka-kun. I'm going to miss you so much. I want to write to you. Tsunade-sama said we won't be able to send a lot of correspondence because we'll be trying to stay under the radar for training purposes, although Shizune says it's more for gambling purposes, whatever that means, but I'm sure I can write sometimes. Is that okay?"

"Of course it's okay. I'll look forward to every single one. Even if you are never able to write any, I'll keep hoping for one the whole time you're gone. Just don't forget me."

"Forget you?" she looked perplexed. "I'll never forget you, and I'll write to you every day, then when I get a chance I'll send all the letters I have at once, that way when you get them, you'll know I thought about you every day."

"Here, I bought you this," he said awkwardly, pulling something from his pocket.

Rin looked at the photograph he'd handed her. It was the two of them sitting on a bench in the hospital cafeteria. Her clothes were torn and her hair was limp and dirty, identifying it as the day Obito had gone into the hospital. Iruka was fresh and clean, his forehead protector gleaming in the fluorescent lighting, neither of them were looking toward the camera and it was obvious they didn't know their picture was being taken.

Her confusion must have shown on her face because Iruka said, "Hehe… yeah, the cafeteria ladies took it for me. They said they'd never seen me talk to a girl, never mind such a pretty one and they wanted to show it to my grandma because they're sure you're the one for me. In fact, they're already planning our wedding. So they wanted a picture of our first date, and I want you to have it, so when you're far away and scared or lonely you'll remember I care about you. And when you're sad or feeling bad about yourself, like I know you do, you can look at it and remember that even when you were at your worst I thought you were the prettiest thing I'd ever seen."

This time Rin blushed, "Thank you Iruka-kun. Stop thinking I'll forget you, this is great though. I'll always keep it with me. Oh, and I have something for you too."

Iruka looked down to see she'd handed him four playing cards wrapped in a rubber band. On closer inspection he realized they were actually from his lucky deck, the one he'd given her the first day he met her.

"It's all the hearts," she said. "I'm giving you my hearts, so you can keep them safe."

Iruka pursed his lips, not sure of what to say. Rin took this to mean he didn't understand and launched into a further explanation. "It's like a metaphor for, like, my real heart. As long as you have it here in Konoha it will be safe and I don't have to worry that it will break because I trust you with it."

"I knew, I just didn't know what to say, but it will be safe here with me. I promise. I'll never hurt you Rin. Come home safe," he said grinning as he gave her a big hug.

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Shizune stood up and looked at the clock. 5:56 A.M. Shit! She was going to be late. Spinning around she started looking for her backpack and shoes. Not seeing either, she madly scanned the area as she spazzed out.

"Relax," the reason for her lateness drawled from the disheveled sofa she had just been keeping him company on. "It's not like Tsunade will leave without you. And honestly, would it be so bad if she did?

Straightening her yukata she smirked at him. "Now that you mention it, I guess it wouldn't be, but she's not going to and I'm still going to catch hell for being late. This wasn't supposed to happen."

And indeed it wasn't supposed to happen. Shizune had stopped at Ibiki's house to say goodbye and inform him that while he had been a nice distraction while she was in town, that's all it was. She certainly didn't harbor any feelings for him and she had no illusions that he would be interested in faithfully waiting for her return. Unfortunately, when he'd opened the front door flaunting his bare chest, loose workout pants slung low on his hips, toned muscles practically glistening in the glowing light of the rising sun, he'd been so sexy wiping the sleep from his eyes, she hadn't been able to say anything. Instead, she'd grabbed his sexy ass and pulled him into a deep kiss, her hands roaming greedily over his sexy pectorals. The hormonal teenager hadn't needed anymore motivation and pulled her into the house where they'd fallen onto the couch to tangle up in one another's body's and made out like the horny teenagers they were. His hands had roamed to places on her body that she hadn't even touched herself, and while she still managed to keep her virgin status intact, Ibiki had certainly made it difficult.

Now, as she adjusted her clothing and attempted to make herself presentable she looked at him again and silently wished she didn't have to leave the village. When would she ever just get to stay? No doubt, everything she left Shizune missed the village but this time she thought she might miss a specific person even more, which was definitely not in her plan. She ran into the bathroom to check her appearance in the mirror. She looked a little rumpled but nothing being up early for travel couldn't explain, and being late would only further the belief that she'd over slept.

Stepping out of the small room she bent to grab her backpack from where she'd left it, only to find it was not longer there. Instead it was strapped to Ibiki, who had managed to find both his shoes and a shirt, and was currently keeping the front door open while holding out his arm for her to take. Pleasantly surprised, Shizune grinned as she linked her arm with his and he guided her down the street.

"What?" he asked with a roguish twinkle in his eye. "You're leaving for who knows how long. I want to spend as much time with you as I can. Damn, can't a guy want to say a proper goodbye to his girl?"

All thoughts of Ibiki as a simple distraction flew out the window as Shizune realized she really liked the idea of being his girl.

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Kakashi rolled his eyes for what had to be the millionth time this morning. He and Obito were supposed to be heading to the main gate to say their goodbyes to Rin, whom they had splurged on a gift for, but instead they were standing around waiting for Obito to finish his hair. Kakashi had known it would be an unpleasant experience but he'd really had no clue just how unpleasant it could actually be. Unfortunately, he was learning quite quickly.

Obito had been sullen and grouchy for the past two days and that psycho in the green spandex had been practically living with them as well. He was constantly babbling something about taijutsu being an excellent foundation for learning medical jutsu and just generally being annoying. When he wasn't going on about that, he was expounding the virtues of blooming youth or some other crap that had Kakashi reaching for a kunai with which he could cut out the boys' tongue to shut him up. Last night Gai had discovered Obito was going to say goodbye to his departing teammate and had decided they could turn Obito's sorrow into energy for training. This meant that after Rin left, Gai and Obito would run 200 laps around the village in an attempt to make the Uchiha forget about his teammate by hurling up his guts. Gai's idea of a light workout frequently had Obito vomiting, bent over in pain, and moving like Frankenstein in the morning. Normally Kakashi got a good kick out of this, however, not so much today.

Gai had arrived at 5:00 this morning demanding Obito swim 100 laps before going to the village gates. Obito, who had no idea Gai would be here before 5:45 when they were to be leaving, was just getting out of the shower and beginning his arduous task of primping and preening so as to look perfect for Rin's departure. Needless to say, he refused Gai's plan for laps, kicking off the argument that woke Kakashi an entire half hour before he was scheduled to get out of bed. Stumbling out of his bedroom he bore witness to Konoha's Green Demon, or whatever ridiculous title he'd bestowed upon himself, yanking on Obito's feet as the angry Uchiha clutched the bathroom doorframe and screamed, "Put me down you bastard! I'm not going anywhere but the main gate. Leave me alone! I'll swim your stupid laps when we get back! Kakashi help me!"

Unfortunately for Obito, Kakashi really had to use the bathroom, and there was only one, which he was currently blocking. Under the guise of offering him a hand, Kakashi dropped his goggled roommate to the floor when the boy took his hands in favor of the bathroom door molding. Now Obito was cursing Kakashi and Gai from the kitchen where he'd managed to get a good hold on the countertop.

Kakashi stepped out of the bathroom, "Gai let him go. We have to leave now. We don't have time for this shit."

"Traitor," Obito spat as Gai let go of him. "I still need five minutes, I'm not going looking like crap and I could have used some help back there Kakashi."

"You look fine, let's get going."

Obito disagreed, and they waited another 10 minutes before they left for him to fix his hair.

Nearing the Konoha gate, Kakashi noticed Obito's eyes narrowing. Turning to follow the boy's gaze he saw a young boy with dark hair giving their teammate an all encompassing hug. Kakashi chuckled; maybe this would be more interesting than he thought.

"Rin-san! My beautiful blossom!" Gai shouted, running up to hug the aforementioned beautiful blossom. "You too are leaving the village? What a wonderful coincidence that Obito's teammate is leaving at the same time or I might have missed the chance to say goodbye to my lady of love."

_Oh yes, _Kakashi thought, _this was certainly going to be interesting._

"Rin is my teammate Gai," Obito growled. "Now get your hands off of her."

"I'm sorry my friend," Gai crowed. "But I can do no such thing. The power of my youth has exploded and my lady here is the cause. My heart is filled with joy at the delight of touching her!"

Kakashi could barely contain his laughter, as it was he was snickering into his hands and hoping nobody would notice. Fortunately it looked like nobody did. Rin, being held bridal style by Gai, was flush with embarrassment. Obito was red in the face with rage and was attempting to pluck their teammate from Gai's grubby clutches while yelling numerous obscenities. The small dark haired boy who had been hugging Rin when they arrived was clutching a handful of playing cards while staring bewilderedly at the scene. Tsunade, who Kakashi hadn't noticed until just now, was looking amused yet kept checking her watch and looking around.

Pulling a kunai from his leg pouch Obito began attempting to cut a hole in the ass of Gai's jumpsuit while Rin was shouting to be put down and the dark haired boy finally sprung into action and began pummeling Gai's back and demanding Rin's release. Kakashi lost it; laughing uncontrollably he clutched his sides and bent over laughing at the pure unadulterated buffoonery on display. In fact he was laughing so hard he didn't notice his sensei until Minato had a firm grip on his shoulder.

"So Kakashi, you think this is funny?"

Kakashi stifled his chuckling, "Hai sensei, extremely so."

"Good," Minato stated. "Until now I didn't think you even had a sense of humor. I'm glad to know that I was wrong. Now hopefully you can keep that stick out of your ass and actually be fun to be around."

Kakashi was unsure whether he should be offended or not.

"Shouldn't you stop this hokage-sama?" Tsunade said playfully.

"Hai," Minato nodded in agreement. "I suppose so. Gai! Put her down! Iruka stop punching him, and Obito put that damn kunai away!"

"Arigato sensei," Rin came running at her sensei. "Arigato. I couldn't' get away. It was so awful. I've never been so embarrassed."

"Don't worry about it Rin, it's all over now," Minato soothed. "And we're all here to say goodbye."

Kakashi noticed for the first time that even Kushina had come down to see Rin off. Her belly swollen with child, it was a testament to her kunoichi skills that she still managed a nimble grace when avoiding the crazy acrobatics that had just taken place.

"It's a shame you won't be here when the baby is born sweetie, but I guess it can't be helped. This is such a good opportunity for you," Kushina hugged her practically adopted daughter. When Rin's parents' had passed away it was Kushina that Rin had turned to for support and over the years that bond had grown exponentially stronger. "We're going to miss you so much. Don't worry though; when he or she comes out I'll tell'em how great their Rin Oneesan is, okay?"

"You better," Rin said while patting Kushina's pregnant belly affectionately. Bending down to the woman's waste tears pooled in her eyes as she whispered conspiratorially to the unborn baby, "I can't wait to meet you. We're going to have so much fun when I get back. I'll be the best Oneesan ever."

"You'll be back before you know it," Kakashi said clapping a hand on her shoulder. "I'll keep everyone out of trouble until you do. After that though, it's up to you again."

"Arigato Kakashi," Rin said with a hitch in her voice. "Make sure you take care of yourself too."

"Don't worry about me, I'm the jounin. Remember?" he said smugly.

"Here Rin," Obito stumbled over, arms extended with he and Kakashi's gift dangerously balanced haphazardly on his fingertips. If he hadn't been afraid the idiot would drop it, Kakashi would have smacked him upside the head. That gift was worth the going rate of three "A" ranked missions, which meant they had done about 30 "C" ranked missions to pay for it. If he broke it before Rin even got it Kakashi would break him.

"Kakashi and I got this for you."

Rin took the offered present, unwrapping a softly glowing glass ball that hummed with chakra. "Sweet Kami!" she gasped in astoundment. "A communication orb. How did you afford one of these? I can't take this, it's too much."

"B-b-but… b-b-but… y-y-you have t-to," Obito sputtered; never eloquent around Rin, when flustered the baka couldn't even put together a sentence. Luckily for him Kakashi was there to salvage the operation.

"You most certainly _will_ take it. That is a non-refundable purchase and the only people it will work fro are you, me, and the stuttering buffoon. Obito and I thought long and hard about what we should get you and decided this was the best option. Now when our sister gets into any trouble we'll know right away and we can come help you. Likewise, if we need you we've got a life line. You're like family Rin, you're all we have, and this way we'll always know you're safe. So it was completely worth all the money we spent, because you're worth even more than that."

Rin's smile beamed radiantly as tears spilled over her cheeks and she embraced Kakashi, "Thank you so much. You don't know how much this means to me."

"You too," she said turning to hug Obito. "You're the best Oniisan."

Rin finished saying her goodbyes to those assembled and then turned to Minato. "Arigato sensei. I'll miss you the most. You're going to be the best hokage Konoha has ever seen, and if you ever get nervous remember I believe in you. Don't let anything happen to the village until I get back, make sure you protect it from any unsavory characters" she said, winking toward Gai and Obito, who were already arguing again.

"Of course not Rin-chan, the village is safe on my watch," he said giving her a salute. "Get back here soon, we're all going to miss you."

As Tsunade checked her watch for the millionth time, Shizune came strolling up on Ibiki's arm. "It's about damn time, you're 10 minutes late Shizune."

"I'm sorr—"

"Arigato, Tsunade-hime," Ibiki cut in, not letting Shizune speak, and she felt a swell of pride as he began to defend her, like her own knight in shining armor. "It's entirely my fault. Shizune would have been on time but I answered the door half naked and I was just too sexy for her willpower to handle. She couldn't keep her hands off of me. (What!? Shizune raged internally, she was going to kill him.) So you can see, it's completely my fault. If I didn't work out as much, I wouldn't have such a hot bod, and then she wouldn't' have been late because we were making out on my couch."

_That is it, _Shizune thought._ He's dead. After Tsunade kills me I'm coming back from the dead to murder him._

"You're telling me that Shizune, my Shizune, the same Shizune that's been my apprentice for years, was late just because she was making out with you?"

"Well I must admit it wasn't just making out, Tsunade-hime. There was also some heavy petting involved," Ibiki responded calmly, in front of the entire group of people waiting at the gate, as well as the guards on duty. Shizune's face turned beet red, and she tried to hide in her yukata.

"Ha-ha," Tsunade laughed loudly. "At first I was sure you were full of shit kid. But I can tell from Shizune's face that you're telling the truth. So all I can say Ibiki, is thank you! Maybe now she'll loosen up a little and be less of a bitch. Rin, say thank you to the boy, he just made our trip a thousand times better. You have no idea how unpleasant Shizune can be, she is very much a stick in the mud."

"Arigato Ibiki-san," Rin bowed her head in thanks, while Shizune's anger boiled, though she was unsure as to whom she was angrier with.

"You very welcome Rin-san," Ibiki responded cockily, making Shizune very aware of whom she was the angriest with.

"Kushina, don't forget our date with the slot machines when I get back," Tsunade waved as she walked out the gates.

Rin was next to follow her out, turning around and blowing kisses back at Iruka.

"I can't believe she called me oniisan. This is your fault Kakashi, I hate you," Obito grumbled.

"You are also in love with Rin-chan, Obito? From this day on, we will be eternal rivals. Only the power of youth will tell who is more deserving of her affections," Gai shouted.

"I can't believe you," Shizune snarled. "How utterly embarrassing. How could you? Why would you say all that stuff?"

"Because it's true," Ibiki smirked arrogantly and pulled her in for a long lazy kiss, after which she had to run to catch up with her companions.

"Let us go rival! The first to finish 200 laps will win the love of our beautiful lotus!" Gai exclaimed.

"You're on bitch!" Obito challenged back. Kakashi just rolled his eyes, somehow feeling like he'd just dodged a bullet.

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A/N: Thanks for reading. And if you've read this far could you please leave a review? It makes me happy when I get one. Plus if I know what parts you hate or like then I can try to add more of the things you like while removing those that don't necessarily work.

Thanks again!


	12. We Move Along

Chapter 12 – We Move Along

His feet hurt and he was starting to sweat, both consequences of spending too much time in the Hokage's office. The first because his frame was too big for the rinky dink chairs they used to decorate (with the amount of damage irate ninjas inflicted upon it, it just wasn't worth it to use quality furnishings). The last time he'd attempted to have a seat on the stuff was 10 years ago; his ample physique had squeezed into the chair with relative ease but refused to dislodge itself afterward. As he'd stood up the lightweight seat had stood with him as it clung to his backside. Inoichi had teased him unmercifully for months and subsequently he had always remained standing while in the Hokage's office. As he'd been waiting in said office for over an hour, his feet were starting to get a little sore. Secondly, he was sweating because Hokage tower while aesthetically pleasing was stupidly designed, well in his own humble opinion anyway. First, it was insanely tall, making it a prime attraction for an enemies first strike, and on top of that it was always miserably hot inside the damn thing. In an effort to make sure the hokage could see all of Konoha from his desk yet remain relatively safe the room's walls were composed mostly of large windows made of 60 millimeter thick polycarbonate glass for: great for protecting the Hokage; bad for ventilation, as there was no way to open them. Being on the top floor of the tower, in full sun, all day, in the Land of Fire, no matter how high the air conditioning was turned up the damn room was always an inferno.

"Hokage-sama is ready for you Akamichi-san," the receptionist announced, at long last opening the door to the inner office.

Upon entering, Choza noticed Hyuga Hizashi, Aburame Shibi, Rock Haruko, and Namiashi Raido sitting with the hokage.

"Choza-san! Good to see you, why don't you have a seat? I'm almost finished up with these guys, but I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer, besides some of these gentlemen will be part of your assignment," Minato explained. Turning back to the group of jonin he smiled widely. "So which one of you wants to help me out? Since we lost Hourousha Maiko on the Iwagakure border last week I need one of you to take over what was to be her genin squad. Now who is it going to be?"

"Hokage-sama," Aburame Shibi began most respectfully. "I believe the honor should go to one of my esteemed colleagues. They are all much better suited to teaching and relating with genin aged shinobi. I believe I can better serve Konoha by taking on solo missions."

Minato nodded and then looked pointedly to the next contender. Rock Haruko squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze, effectively avoiding eye contact by picking her cuticles and feigning absentminded ignorance to his unasked question. Awkward silence hung in the air for almost a minute before she caved to the pressure and blurted out, "Sumimasen, sumimasen, Hokage-sama, but please don't choose me. I'm having so much trouble with Lee-chan. I know he's a year old already, but they're having trouble locating his chakra coils, even saying that he may not ever be able to mold chakra, and he'll never be a ninja, and I don't know what to do. I'm feeling very stressed, and I'm just worn out. I hate to admit it, but I just don't think it would be fair to the students if my head and heart weren't both equally invested in their training. I will gladly take on a team when this is all figured out, but please don't ask me to do it right now."

"It's okay Haruko, I understand, I won't ask this of you right now, you can go now. You have my best wishes for Lee-chan."

After Haruko's departure his eyes moved to Hyuga Hizashi. "I request permission to speak freely Hokage-sama," the stoic Hyuga inquired.

"Certainly, say whatever you wish," Minato affirmed.

"While I would be extremely privileged to have the opportunity to take on a genin cell, after looking at the files on this particular group I would like to decline. They are all mediocre graduates at best and will never be more than sub-par chunin at most. They lack any significant skills, nor do they possess any signature techniques. Gekko Hayate lacks body weight and muscle; he is too small to be a shinobi. Uzuki Yugao has no chakra control, it spikes erratically and behaves inconsistently, and as of yet she has still not managed to even complete the tree climbing exercise. And Umino Iruka is too soft, while he has the physical potential for greatness, he lacks the mental toughness needed to get there. If I were to take on a genin squad, it would most certainly not be this one.

Minato turned to look at Namiashi Raido, whom Choza noted looked more serious than he had ever had before, the teenager was usually the one wearing the biggest grin and the first to tell a joke. At this moment in time however there was no joy in his voice.

"Hokage-sama, when I say this I mean no disrespect to your wisdom, and I'm flattered beyond belief that you would even consider me for this position, but I don't think I'm ready for it. Having only achieved jonin rank three months ago I don't feel I have the experience necessary for what the job entails. And while it would boost my ego quite a bit to be in charge of a genin squad at this age, the last thing I would ever want is for something to happen to those children because I was too green for the job."

"Well Raido-san, I will certainly take your thoughts on the matter into consideration before I make my choice, and since none of you actually volunteered I'm going to have decide all on my own," Minato responded to the unusually somber jonin. He picked up the contents of the genin files strewn across his desk, depositing all three folders into one larger one. Choza had to bite his inner lip to keep from laughing as he handed the package directly to Hizashi.

"While I understand your concern Hizashi-san, I disagree with what you think will be the ultimate outcome. Since you are already aware of all their weaknesses you'll be able to work around them, and turn their deficiencies into strengths. As I see it, you, Hyuga Hizashi, will not let them be mediocre, the pride of the Hyuga will not allow it. As their sensei you will keep them from stagnating and push them to be the best that they can be. When your students walk up to take their chunin exam they will be representing the teaching of Hyuga Hizashi, and that is what is going to make all the difference. I know you will push them to excellence, with you mediocrity is not an option, which is why I know you are the perfect man for the job."

Choza resorted to digging his fingernails into the palms of his hands in order to keep inappropriate laughter from bubbling over at the sight of the gaping Hyuga. Obviously the man was not expecting such an outcome and was temporarily stunned; Hyuga's were not accustomed to not getting their way.

"I understand Hokage-sama, and I will do my best not to fail you," Hizashi finally managed to choke out. "I will go find my students and inform them of this new arrangement."

"That won't be necessary Hizashi-san," Minato chirped happily. "I told them they would be getting their new sensei today, so they're waiting for you down at training ground 14. They're very excited to meet you. Good luck!"

"Arigato, Hokage-sama," Hizashi bowed respectfully and made his exit.

"Okay now, sorry again for the long wait Choza, but now I can get down to business. You three will be going on a scouting mission. I would have liked to send Hizashi on this, but well things didn't work out quite like I was hoping. Anyway, there have been reports of a strange ninja in the area. I say strange because as far as any of the witnesses could tell he was wearing a leaf hitai-ite, but they did not recognize him, he failed to respond to any of the Konoha safe words, and disappeared when they moved to intercept him. I need you three to find out who he is, his threat level, and his location, and if at all possibly I'd like you to do it without an altercation. The mission specifics are in the ready room. Good luck gentlemen."

Choza left the office followed by Shibi and Raido, thinking about how he would have much rather been on the mission in his usual Ino-Shika-Cho formation. He also wished he didn't have to go on a mission at all. His pregnant wife was due any day now and he really wanted to be there for the birth of his daughter. Shibi and Raido were both good ninja and Choza had no problems with them, but at this particular juncture both Inoichi's and Shikaku's wives were expecting and they could empathize with his plight. Honestly, Choza didn't know if his baby was male or female, but he was really hoping for a girl. He knew Inoichi was pining for a boy; the man had made his wife have sex only in certain positions since he'd heard they were the key to having a boy, and throughout her pregnancy he'd insisted on a strict diet that was also said to insure the birth of a boy. Shikaku could care less what sex his child was, as long as it was a healthy Nara, the shadow user had no complaints, but Choza really wanted a girl. In all the dreams he had about being a father he was always carrying around a cute little girl with pigtails, she was daddy's little girl and he pushed her in a carriage and showed her off to all the neighbors.

It would have been nice to discuss his upcoming foray into fatherhood with his teammates, but looking around he didn't think it was going to happen. At 19, Raido was unmarried and not at all interested in having children yet, and while Shibi's wife had just given birth about three months ago, Choza knew the quiet and reserved man would not discuss any personal matters. All of which meant Choza would just keep his thoughts to himself and hope they found this mysterious ninja quickly.

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Rin had been gone for three months now, Kakashi had been completing solo missions about to start training for ANBU, and Obito had been left alone, stuck training exclusively in no chakra taijutsu with Gai, a hell he had begun to feel he would never escape. Today however was the end of it, he was about to step back into the light, today he was finally getting out; his chakra ban was lifted and Minato-sensei would be removing the chakra inhibitors around his wrists. He was back on active status and psyched to again be a productive member of society. Practically skipping through town Obito wondered if he would be assigned to a new team or maybe given solo missions like Kakashi, in any event it didn't matter so long as he was going back to work.

Obito reached the top of the stairs with a grin on his face and not a breath out of stitch. He had to admit that while his eternal rival was a tad bit extreme in his tactics and his ideas for training were completely insane, he had achieved amazing results. There was in actuality a method to his madness, the Uchiha had never been in better shape. In fact, he was pretty sure he could now run circles around Kakashi, a fact that thrilled him to no end. Gai could still trounce him in the running department but seriously the dude was a freak; he couldn't imagine wearing those ridiculous leg weights everywhere he went. Out of the 127 contests he had competed in against his relentless opponent Obito was the winner of 63 and not a single one of them had come to him because of his fleet feet.

"You can go right on in Obito-san," the receptionist waved him toward the door. They're all waiting for you."

Inside sat Minato-sensei, Kakashi, and a tiny girl he didn't recognize. "You're 15 minutes fucking late!"

Stunned by the gruff obscene words coming from that wisp of a girl it took him a minute to answer, "I'm not late I just decided to change my schedule to make it more convenient for myself."

"What the fuck? Are you shitting me? Who is this guy?" That nasty mouth continued to spew rudeness his way, and he already knew he hated her. Hopefully whatever this mission was, it would be finished quickly and he wouldn't have to spend any more time with her then absolutely necessary.

"Anko-chan," Minato spoke playfully to the girl despite her crude vocabulary. "This is Uchiha Obito; you've already met Kakashi over there. Obito, this is Mitarashi Anko, and she is going to be the third member of your team."

"What?" Obito hissed venomously. "We don't need a third member for the team, we already have one. Rin is coming back sensei, how do you think she'll feel if we replace her? No way! She can't be on the team! It's not going to happen."

Anko scowled at him, "Well whoever the fuck Rin is, I feel bad for her, stuck on a team with an idiot like you. Who would want to be on a squad with you anyway? Your family doesn't even want to be around you and I certainly don't. Hokage-sama, there is no way I'm working with this okama."

"Okama? You bitch! I'm ten times the shinobi you will ever be. You're not even big enough to kill a fly, I can forget about making jonin with you on our squad."

"Hahaha," Anko laughed devilishly. "You are pathetic; I am so far beyond your skill level its ridiculous. If Oroch—if my sensei hadn't want to keep all my techniques a secret I'd have already taken and passed the jonin exams. You on the other hand can never even hope to get past the written portion."

Just about to respond with another vicious volley of insults Obito saw Minato's face and decided against it. His sensei's normally tan face was white with rage and Obito knew Konoha's Yellow Flash was about to explode.

"Both of you shut your mouths!" he erupted. "In case neither of you noticed, your Hokage is in the room, and last I checked the Yondaime Hokage was not named Obito or Anko. Maybe I've been too lenient with you up till now, but I promise that's over, it ends now! I'm the hokage! When I tell you something that's the way it is. Contrary to what you believe, it is not a starting point for negotiations. When words come out of my mouth they are orders. Orders that you are to follow. I'm in charge here. When I say jump, you say "how high," you do not tell me your back hurts or that you don't feel like jumping today. Do you understand me?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" a stunned Obito and cowed Anko answered simultaneously.

"Now, from this moment on, until I say otherwise, the three of you are a team. I've discussed this with Kakashi and as none of you have any family you will all be living together at the Hatake house. Anko will be moving in with you tomorrow, and your first mission as a team is to move her things from the village housing into her new home in one afternoon. When that's done you will report here and I'll give you a new mission. Is that clear?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" the trio responded as one.

"Good, I'll see you tomorrow when you're finished. You are dismissed."

Exiting Hokage tower Obito started off left to go home, while Anko turned in the opposite direction, which was just fine with him. As far as he was concerned the less time he spent with her the better.

And then his jaw dropped to the floor and he hated someone else even more then Anko.

"Yo, Mitarashi-san," Kakashi called out. "Can we walk you home?"

"Fuck you! I can get home all by myself. I'm a big girl, and guess what I'm even a fucking shinobi, I think I can make it on my own. So, no, I don't need you ass monkeys to walk me home."

"Gomen nasai, Mitarashi-san. I meant not offense," Kakashi responded, making Obito's skin crawl. Why was he apologizing to this crazy bitch? "I in no way doubt your skill as a ninja. I only asked with the intent of knowing the location of your home to speed up tomorrow's mission. After today's debacle I think we should try to impress Hokage-sama and get you moved as quickly as possible."

Anko's piercing gaze studied him for a moment, weighing and measuring him with her eyes; she smirked, apparently Kakashi had not been found wanting. "Alright Hatake, you're right. You can walk with me. Hokage-sama has been good to me, it's about time I try not to disappoint him."

Grudgingly, Obito followed the pair to Anko's home in the village housing. Having been a member of the prestigious Uchiha clan Obito had never actually entered the gated community affectionately known as "fuujikomeru chitai," the containment area. The gates on this particular area were designed to keep its inhabitants inside, rather than keep others out, and now he knew why. The buildings, if they could even be called buildings, looked more like dilapidated shacks that would collapse on the first person unlucky enough to actually brush against them, they were close together and filthy. On the houses that actually had steps drug addled derelicts sat huddled and shaking while others just did the same only lying in the gutter instead. Large groups of miscreants gathered at corners and attempted to stare down anyone who walked by.

Unable to sense any chakra signatures coming from the hoodlums Obito relaxed a little. Bully's like these couldn't hope to fight evenly against shinobi, and despite the large numbers of them Anko marched right past them without even a second glance, Kakashi, always unflappable followed suite, and Obito had no choice but to do the same. He'd be damned if he let either of those two bastards show him up. A few more blocks through fuujikomeru chitai and they'd finally reached Anko's home, which while still as poorly constructed as those in the area was devoid of vagabonds on the stoop and no garbage other than what was located in the trash can.

"Would you like to come in for some tea?" Anko asked feeling slightly obligated now that they had walked her all the way home.

"Hai."

"No."

Kakashi and Obito responded with perfect synchronization, and Obito scowled. All the times their sweet and beautiful Rin had invited the two of them for tea Kakashi had refused, and now that they had this loathsome and scrawny girl on their team the bastard decides it's time to be social.

"Sure, we'd just love to come in for tea," Obito drawled sarcastically.

Anko's lip turned up in a sneer as she pushed open the door; waving her hands exaggeratedly she bowed with flourish. "Welcome to my humble abode gentlemen," she expounded disparagingly. "Please, do come in."

Obito was about to laugh when he remembered who she was and caught himself before he gave her the satisfaction. He followed Kakashi inside to what served as both a living room and bedroom; Anko slid past them into the small kitchen to make tea. Looking around Obito realized they wouldn't need to make more than one trip to move her. In all honesty, he thought he might be able to move her all by himself. The futon she used for a bed was old and dilapidated, with most of its stuffing long gone, and she had no dresser. Instead her clothes were hung on an exposed pipe suspended from the ceiling, and other then the enormous weapon chest there wasn't another piece of furniture in the entire place. Even after being disowned Obito had more possessions than this. Anko came out of the kitchen holding two battered mugs filled with tea while looking at them strangely.

"Is something wrong Mitarashi-san?" Kakashi asked as he took the offered cup.

"No," she said with a small smile. "It's just that you two are the only people to ever come in here. Before Oroch—well just before, I didn't have to live here, I lived with my sensei, but after, nobody wants anything to do with me. You're my first and last visitors."

"Thank you for having us here Mitarashi-san," Obito said bowing his head in respect.

Much to his surprise Anko began laughing loudly. "This is just too much," she cackled. "I've got a high and mighty Uchiha bowing to me while standing in this shit hole, while the son of Konoha's legendary White Fang sips on my shitty tea. It's just too much; Hokage-sama has one sick sense of humor."

Obito looked at her laughing, and then over at Kakashi who was indeed delicately sipping his tea and even had his pinky extended femininely, then he too began laughing, eventually even Kakashi joined in and they all sat on the floor laughing until they could compose themselves.

When they had calmed down sufficiently Anko announced, "Look, if we're going to be teammates I want you to call me Anko. Enough with this Mitarashi-san crap. From now on it's just Anko, okay?"

"Hai," Kakashi nodded.

"Okay, Anko it is. Please call me Obito, unless of course you want to call me Supreme Lord and Master, because that would be fine with me too."

Anko smirked at him and asked Kakashi, "Is he always like this?"

"Yes. Always." Kakashi deadpanned, complete with his patented eye roll.

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Far away in the land of wind Baki clenched his fists tightly in an effort to keep his temper in check. It would not be wise to anger his Kazekage, even if the man was completely wrong.

"Baki, this is the last time you come to me with this request. I have already shown you leniency in allowing you to continue being the guardian for Temari and Kankuro when your abilities could be of far greater value on the battlefield. But you will not bring my children anywhere near that monster. Is that clear?"

"With all due respect kazekage-sama," Baki began hesitantly, he'd saved the Kage's life a few months ago, which was why he'd been given the opportunity to speak with his leader at all, but the man was volatile and vengeful and the teenager did not want to antagonize but he'd made a promise to a dying woman that he could not forget. "Gaara is just an infant, and Temari and Kankuro could help to familiarize him with being around others. A baby should be around other kids, besides if he attaches to them at a young age he'll be more likely to care about them when he is older."

"He's not just an infant, or a baby, or a child. Or any of the non-threatening words you've used to describe him and you'd do well to remember it. Gaara is a jinchuriki, a monster, a beast. And he shall be treated as one. He will be Suna's finest weapon, but first and foremost he is a demon and Temari and Kankuro will not be in his presence. Is that understood?"

"Hai, Kazekage-sama," Baki answered defeated. He just hoped the hateful Yashamaru would not harm the boy.

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Five months along and Kushina's baby "bump" was becoming a full on mountain. It was hard for her to bend down and she was sick of being too large to sit comfortably on Minato's lap. Not that he ever complained but she just knew she was crushing her precious husband beneath her gigantic body. On top of feeling like a giant cow, she was increasingly bored each day the pregnancy dragged on.

Kushina was a woman of action, and adventure seeker, a kunoichi, and pregnancy was driving her stir crazy. It was a well known fact that women from Whirlpool country often had difficulties with pregnancy, miscarriages were commonplace and there more women died during childbirth then any of the other nations. As such, when pregnant Whirlpool's women were treated like delicate crystal and handled with care. Kushina more so then anyone else, as the wife of the Hokage she was being treated like she could shatter at any second. When her pregnancy had first been discovered she had immediately been taken off the active roster, and three months in she'd been forbidden to even carry anything. Now at five months she was barely allowed out of bed, and she was getting damn sick of it.

This was not to say she didn't want to be pregnant. Quite the contrary she'd wanted this pregnancy so badly. Having Minato's child was bringing her more joy then she'd ever dreamed of, and even though he wasn't born yet, Kushina loved her son more than anything in the world. Knowing that soon she'd be able to hug him and hold him was the only thing that kept her in bed some days. The thought that she could easily lose him because of her poor heritage made her wish she'd come from any other village, and being cooped up in bed was making her want to pull her hair out.

Recently she had been getting more and more visitors, which certainly helped to pass the time, but she was starting to wonder if her loving husband may have been ordering shinobi to stop by. She thought nothing of it when Hyuga Makoto stopped by with a basket of ponkan. Three months pregnant herself, Hiashi rarely let the poor woman out of his sight, but Makoto had been Kushina's friend since her arrival in Konoha, long before she'd become Lady Hyuga, and visiting the Hokage's wife was not an activity he would prevent. Tighter bonds with someone so close to Konoha's leader could only be beneficial politically. So Makoto stopped by as frequently as possible and almost always brought a basket of ponkan, the sweet citrus fruit was Kushina's favorite and were without exception all eaten in one day. Makoto's visits were always fun, and she and Kushina often joked about wedding contracts for their unborn children, not that they knew Makoto was having a girl.

Kakashi and Obito, and now Anko, were frequent visitors as well, but that never seemed odd. Since being assigned to Minato, Kakashi had always visited, making Kushina into something of an older sister, and with the addition of Obito and Rin the four of them frequently spent hours at mahjong. Most frequently Kakashi was the winner, although Kushina managed to beat him occasionally, and even Rin pulled out a few wins as her skill improved. As far as Kushina could remember, Obito had yet to claim a victory, and actually performed even worse than Anko the first and last time she played. She and Obito's volatile comradery did not lend itself to playing games and the Uchiha's less than stellar execution had led to teasing, which escalated, then concluded with the shattering of Kushina and Minato's glass coffee table. Anko and Obito had replaced the table, but mahjong was no longer an activity they could do together. Now when the three visited they attempted friendly conversation, often recounting their latest missions. Inevitably, Obito would embellish his role in the heroics exponentially, much like he had always done, Kakashi's eyes would roll back in his head, much like he had always done, and Kushina would chuckle lightly, much like she had always done. However, Anko, as the new variable in the equation, was nothing like Rin who would just smile demurely and ignore his blatant attempts to boost his battle prowess, she instead would smack him upside the back of the head and declare him a liar. Chaos would ensue and their visit would conclude.

The first visitor she was suspicious of was Nara Yoshino. The woman had shown up with homemade vitamins for the Hokage's wife. She and Kushina had never really been unfriendly but they hadn't actually ever been friends either. So to say Kushina had been surprised by the visit would have been an understatement. Astonishingly enough her visit had been an enjoyable one. Yoshino was also pregnant, a month further along than Kushina and just as anxious to get it over with and they also shared a bond in that neither were Konoha born. Shikaku had been on a mission to Numa no Kuni, the land of swamps and became smitten with their bossy liaison. He'd traveled back there several times and eventually convinced her to come back with him, a move Yoshino has never regretted. Kushina and she had spoken at great length about the difficulties they'd had to overcome when becoming Konoha kunoichi, and before the woman left Kushina was sure they would be great friends.

At the arrival of Shiranui Genma the jig was up. The 15 year old had done a fine job at his assigned task; he'd spent over an hour with her, the majority of it spent asking for dating advice. He'd proved to be an attentive listener and was actually quite intelligent, a fact he had previously managed to hide. Kushina, much like the rest of the village, was well aware of the young man's proclivity for causing trouble, but he'd been on his best behavior during his visit and was actually very eloquent. In fact, it the boy ever grew up she was sure he'd make a wonderful man.

Tonight however, Kushina was ready to confront her beloved about his abuse of authority. As he entered their bedroom, where Kushina spent almost all of her time in bed, though unfortunately not engaging in anything fun, sex being another activity deemed too dangerous for the pregnant kunoichi, she smiled sweetly. Patting the empty spot on her left she motioned for him to come over.

"Hey baby," he said. "Did you miss me? I definitely missed you."

Sitting next to her on the bed he began rubbing her belly affectionately and cooing sweet nothings as he lowered his head to it.

"Of course not," she replied, enjoying it when his face fell. "How could I even begin to miss you with all the visitors I've had lately. And that Shiranui Genma is just so damn cute, and what magical hands."

"W-what? Why have his hands been on you? How can you say that? His hands, magic or otherwise, should not be on my wife, I'll have him doing D ranked missions for the rest of his life," he said sitting up to his full height.

"Oh relax yourself, I was just kidding. I'm just trying to prove a point."

"Which is?"

"That you are ordering people to come see me."

"Pfft… what are you talking about?" he sputtered.

"Oh, just the myriad of strange guests I've had in and out of the house this week. And I want you to know that it's not that I don't enjoy the company, I totally do, it's great having people to talk to. It breaks up the day until I get to see you again, but you're abusing your power sweetie, regardless of how good your intentions."

"I have no idea what you are talking about. If people are coming to visit it's because they love you as much as I do. You're an amazing person. Who wouldn't want to see you?"

"Minato," she stated, her voice taking on that no nonsense tone she used when scolding Obito and Anko. "Stop lying. You and I both know you're making our shinobi come visit me."

"I am not."

"Oh really? Then what am I doing getting visits from Yamanaka Iku? A woman who I've only actually met twice before, but whom decided she should bring me a giant bouquet of lilies, which just happened to be Star Gazers, my favorite."

"Iku-san is also pregnant; she probably just wanted to be around someone who could understand being a kunoichi and a mother, and the frustration of being taken off missions for nine months."

"Okay," Kushina nodded in agreement. "Then what about the frequency of Kakashi, Obito, and Anko's visits, huh? Between Kakashi and Anko I couldn't tell you which one spends more of their time training, and now suddenly they're visiting at least two times a day. Neglecting years of self imposed discipline and conditioning to spend hours gossiping with me?"

"Kushina, none of them have families of their own anymore, and I'm not available for them like I used to be, not to mention since Orochimaru left Anko's been like a lost puppy, she can't even bring herself to say the bastard's name. Being with you makes them feel like they're part of something more. I thought you already understood that."

"Okay then smart ass. Just today I got a visit from Hagane Kotetsu. Explain that one."

"I… uh… I.. fine. He came to me for advice on girls and I told him I was busy but I was sure you were free, and I may have mentioned that he could have his pick of missions next time he came in if he entertained you for at least an hour. But it was a suggestion, not an order."

Kushina beamed, she'd known she was right all along.

A/N: Thanks for reading, now this is where I beg for reviews… please please please please please review. Also I'm thinking of doing a timeskip, nothing drastic, just one or two years, and then I'd do several more, eventually ending up where shippuuden is, and I'd like your opinion on whether I should do this or just continue the way it is, or maybe just skip a year at a time. Hmmm… I just can't decide.


	13. From Small Beginnings Come Great Things

Chapter 13 – From Small Beginnings Come Great Things

May 1st

Choza, Shibi, and Raido began a final sweep of Konoha's western border. They'd been searching out this mysterious intruder with a Konoha hitai-ite for three weeks now, and had only one sighting to report. They'd given chase but to no avail; the unknown ninja had practically vanished. This morning they'd gotten a messenger bird ordering them back to the village, apparently the Iwa nin on the northern border were no longer content to remain within their own jurisdiction and had begun raiding unprotected towns in Kusagakure. The grass shinobi already spread thin after years of war, were ill equipped to handle the attacks and were asking Fire country for help.

Already engaged in skirmishes with Amegakure in the west and Kirigakure in the south, Konoha needed all of its able-bodied ninja ready for battle and suddenly this one strange shinobi had fallen to the back of the line in terms of importance.

Choza couldn't be happier. The same messenger bird had also brought news that his wife had gone into labor just this morning. Since it was their first child he knew the birth could go on all day, and if they hurried he might make it back for his daughter's birth. Shibi on the other hand was less than thrilled, he'd hoped to catch the sneaky ninja, the fact that the man had escaped was a bone of contention for the man who hadn't failed a mission in over five years. In addition, the bug user had some crazy theory about the man summoning demons. In their search they had come across a clearing with a still smoking camp fire shortly after sighting the enemy ninja. Shibi had noticed an excess of wax in the remains of the fire pit as well as some small animal bones he'd identified as fox remains. That, coupled with what appeared to be blood splattered on rocks in the area had led the man to his absurd conclusion. Choza humored the Aburame and helped collect the samples he wanted, but inwardly he'd scoffed, how ludicrous could he be?

And yet Shibi's batty demon conjecture seemed tame in comparison to Raido's speculation. The three of them were the only ones to have gotten a good look at the ninja in question; Choza guessed the man had been only 20 feet away at most when he'd fled his pursuers and they had managed to get a good look at his face. They could all agree he'd had long black hair, he'd held it back only with a Konoha forehead protector, handsome angular features, and a strong jaw line. His eyes were where the group's description's diverged. Choza had seen dark eyes, possibly even black they'd been so dark; nothing extraordinary. Raido agreed that they had been black, but when the man noticed the incoming trio he claimed they'd turned red. Choza noted no such thing, but strong in his belief, Raido argued that since Choza had been on the right side of their formation he would have been unable to see the man's eyes as he'd turned away. Raido having been on the left flank had a longer opportunity to observe the man's face since the man had turned toward him as he fled. Shibi had been in the center, and while he himself had not seen the red eyes, he did not discount Raido's testimony and actually agreed that Choza's line of site would not have allowed him to see them if they had been red. To top off the ridiculousness Raido alleged that the man was in fact one of Konoha's founding fathers, Uchiha Madara.

Choza had pointed out the preposterousness of it all to be met with a blank stare from Shibi (well it might have been a blank stare, who could tell when the guy never took off those damn sunglasses), and complete denial from Raido. The teenager had argued passionately and even gone so far as to tell him the reason he didn't recognize the man was due to the fact that he was old.

"Look, you're an older shinobi, and that comes with many years of experience and a lot of fights under that big belt of yours. So it's understandable that with that influx of all that new knowledge and information you get with every battle, you could forget the little things we're taught in the academy. Don't take offense, I'm just saying that while it's only been a few years out for me, and I can clearly remember the faces of Konoha's founders looking out at me from that giant boring history book, for you it's been what like 20 years? The point is it's been forever, so you probably can't remember. I on the other hand can recall it exactly, and that was Uchiha Madara."

Choza believed he had shown a good bit of restraint by not throttling the cocky teenager, but when Shibi had quietly agreed that he also saw a resemblance it had taken every ounce of willpower that he possessed not to use his Baika-no-Jutsu and squish them both flat. This was the last time he took a mission outside of the usual Ino-Shika-Cho formation. These two whack jobs had him questioning his own sanity. He could not get home fast enough.

Done with the final sweep they turned home, and with the thought of his baby girl Choza's sore muscles suddenly had more to give. He made sure to gradually increase their pace towards home so as not to alert his teammates to the rush, but he really wanted to be there to welcome his little girl into the world. Upon noticing a familiar tree, he knew they were only an hour from Konoha's gates at most and the speed in his steps increased accordingly. He still had to report to the Hokage and document his account of the mission before he could rush to the hospital and it felt like he would never make it on time.

From his right side Raid laughed, "Choza, I have never seen you move so fast, not even for the last chip dude. Why don't you just go straight over to the maternity ward? Shibi and I can give the mission report, besides your mind won't be on it anyway."

"But—," Choza began, only to be cut off by Shibi.

"Don't worry, we will not fail to not your objection to our theories on the intruder, your good name will not be sullied by our outlandish deductions."

"Thank you so much," the giant shinobi gushed. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Don't worry about it, and stop getting all mushy on us," Raido answered. "Just get on over there and make sure you say hello to your little girl for us."

"You got it," he said happily. "See you later."

With those parting words Choza pushed all of his remaining chakra to his feet and took off for the hospital. Maybe those guys were a little crazy, it was par for the course in this line of work, okay, maybe they were even a little crazier than most, bat shit insane even, but that didn't mean they weren't great guys. From that moment on Choza would hold a soft spot in his heart for the two of them.

Flying through the trees led to hopping over roof tops which then ended when he skidded to a halt outside the hospital. Pushing open the glass doors he strode through the building like a man possessed, almost knocking over a few nurses in the process. When he finally got to the maternity ward he practically accosted the woman at the nursing center.

"Akamichi Umeko," he gasped, now that he wasn't running the exertion and abuse of chakra was catching up to him.

"Room 237," the nurse said, having been around for all the pre-birth planning she was aware he was the woman's husband, and knowing how few ninja actually got to be around for the birth of their children she let him in without the customary paperwork. "It's the third door on the right."

"Ume-chan! I'm here!" he shouted as he busted into the delivery room.

His wife barely managed a smile before she grimaced in pain and pushed for all she was worth. Choza moved to her bed side and reached out to hold her hand. She quickly grabbed hold of him squeezing tightly enough to grind his bones together, leaving him wishing he hadn't used all of his chakra as he could sure have used some to reinforce his skeleton right now.

"One more push sweetie," the doctor urged. "Come on you can do it."

His wife pushed again and suddenly their baby's cries filled the room. Choza watched with awe on his face as the doctor cut the umbilical cord and the nurse swept his daughter away to clean her off before he could even see her. Holding his wife's hand he smiled down at her, "I told you I'd be here for you."

"I never doubted that," she answered with tears in her eyes.

Moments later the nurse was back, handing over their daughter, who was now cleaned up and wrapped in a soft blue blanket. Reaching out his arms the doctor presented Choza with his baby.

"Akamichi-san, say hello to your new son."

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July 7

Tsume stretched her legs out to grab the coffee table with her toes in an attempt to pull it over for use as a foot stool. Across her living room Izumo and Kotetsu lounged on the floor playing with Kaijin, Kumari, and Heisui. Rikku sat next her on the sofa stroking Kuromaru's thick black fur; far too dignified to play on the floor with the Haimaru Sankyodai he was still not above being pet (especially if it was by Rikku doing the petting, while he wouldn't admit it out loud Tsume knew she was always his favorite of the three, he was not Izumo's biggest fan but that was a whole other story). For once Hana was not under foot; instead she had actually gone down for her nap, allowing the very pregnant Tsume some much needed rest. This was only possible because her Izumo-kun had suggested it and even deigned to tuck her in if she promised to give her nap a good try, proving that maybe Izumo did have some uses after all. The jury was still out on Rikku and Kotetsu, but Tsume was hopeful.

Over nine months pregnant, and due any moment now, her team had been under the tutelage of the placid Kawano Teruo for four months now and they missed their brash sensei something fierce. In just the past month she had seen more of them then she had when she was actually training them, which she had to admit she was actually grateful for. They'd been great, helping with household chores, grocery shopping, dog grooming, and even cooking for Hana, all without her even asking. If they noticed something needed doing, one of them did it. Tsume had never seen them as cohesive or so helpful; if they weren't training or sleeping they were home with her, and occasionally even slept there as well.

Originally she had been afraid the break in their training would affect their relationship, that maybe she'd lose them to a new sensei who would better understand them, Tsume had no delusions, she was quite aware that she could be difficult at times, and it wouldn't be the first time a maternity leave had cost a kunoichi her genin squad. Fortunately Kawano-san had managed to ensure that would not be the case. As far as her students were concerned they could not have gotten a worse instructor. A scraping from the bottom of the barrel, Teruo was apparently nothing in comparison to Tsume. Allegedly his training tactics were piss poor and he hadn't even bothered to learn his new student's signature jutsu's, even after four months as their sensei, he didn't get any of their jokes, walked around with a toothpick in his mouth (which Rikku believed was a poor attempt to mimic the sexy Shiranui Genma who never went anywhere without a senbon between his lips), and refused to acknowledge that he was short, which was apparently the straw that broke the camel's back so to speak, and the worst thing the poor jonin could have possibly done. Evidently this was a huge deal to her team, as the three of them had all brought the incident to her attention on separate occasions and even now it was the current topic of conversation.

"I just can't even believe it, sensei," Rikku griped. "He just won't admit he's short. Like we didn't totally see it or something."

"He knows nothing about us, maybe he thinks we're blind," Izumo offered.

"Its ridiculous sensei," Kotetsu chimed in. "He was so drained of chakra after that battle he couldn't hold his genjutsu anymore, right, and it was like he just shrunk. It was like he became a chibi, and I wanted to go pinch his cheeks. One minute he was 6 foot 2, the next he was 5 foot 1. "

"If that, Tsu-chan," Izumo interrupted (the boy refused to call her sensei while she was off duty, reasoning that if he was going to marry his Hana-chan they were going to have to be a lot less formal, Tsume refused to dignify that with an answer, even just to say that he would marry her daughter over her cold dead corpse). "He might not even be that tall, he is a little dude. I bet if he stood behind Rikku you wouldn't even be able to see him. He should start wearing those high heeled geta like Tsunade-hime."

"There is nothing wrong with being short, neither Rikku nor I are very tall," Tsume scolded, half heartedly defending the man.

"Sensei, him being short is not the issue," Rikku stressed. "The problem is that he won't admit it. I told him he didn't have to waste his chakra around us because we already knew how short he is, and he was just like I don't know what you're talking about. And I was like, seriously? Are you kidding me dude? How can I have respect for this idiot?"

"He's a moron," Izumo added. "I want to just grab him and shake him, and say, Dude, its okay to be a little guy, size doesn't matter."

"Except it totally does," Rikku threw in for good measure.

"I just don't know what you're talking about children," Kotetsu mimicked in an extremely cheery and effeminate voice. "Why don't we go skip rocks and sing around the campfire? Then we can play with the pretty Pegasus and unicorns, and maybe we'll even see a rainbow!"

"Then I can follow it all the way to the end and find my pot of gold," Izumo continued in an equally hilarious voice.

"Ugh," Rikku groaned. "Not only is he a short liar, his voice is like nails on a chalkboard. And does he always have to be so damn cheesy? He's just the worst sensei ever, Sensei. We might as well go on missions alone, nobody is afraid of his pansy ass. Intimidation is not even an option with him around. You were way better at it."

"Rikku, what the hell did you expect from a guy whose name means 'shining man'? I mean it's almost like he has to be an okama," Kotetsu commented.

The three of them sat their laughing like hyenas at poor Kawano's expense and though she knew she should, Tsume couldn't bring herself to even care, let alone reprimand them, to be honest she'd thought Teruo to be a pompous sniveling twit in their genin days. Besides those voices her boys had used to mock the man's speech pattern were extremely funny. Giving in, Tsume joined them in their uproarious merriment and succumbed to the infectious good humor flooding the room. Laughter breeds more of the same and pretty soon the four of them were laughing so hard it hurt. A few minutes later when they'd calmed down; Tsume noticed her pants felt damp. Cursing her pregnancies effect on her now weak bladder, she thought, Great, I can't even have a good time without pissing my pants.

Lumbering to her feet Tsume managed to stand for a full two seconds before a contraction hit and she was knocked to her knees. Like a shot all three of her genin were at her side; Kotetsu and Izumo lifting her to her seat and Rikku beginning a medical scan of her vitals.

"I'm okay guys," Tsume assured them. "My water just broke, it's not a problem, and actually it's a blessing. It's going to be fine. Izumo wake up Hana, Rikku go to my bedroom and grab the packed brown suitcase that's in my closet. Kotetsu help me up, we're going to the hospital, and I'll be back to being your sensei in no time."

Five minutes later everyone was ready to go and they set out for Konoha General. The further they got from the house the more intense Tsume's contractions felt. As far as she could remember things hadn't gone so quickly when she'd had Hana, but she had heard that the second child was usually easier then the first. If her contractions were any indication though, this one seemed like it would be far worse. Every contraction hurt worse than the one before, and she was starting to get worried. Each step was getting harder and harder to make, the dutiful Kotetsu was now pretty much carrying her into town, and she noticed that blood had started to seep down her leg.

"Sensei? Sensei!" Rin shouted at her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fi—, "Tsume had begun to answer before she collapsed into the waiting arms of Kotetsu.

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The next thing Tsume knew she was lying in a hospital bed, Hana was curled up asleep at her feet, and a strange man was snoring from the chair at her bedside. As her clouded mind began to clear she wondered who he was. He shared similar features with Kotetsu; maybe he had an older brother? But that wouldn't make any sense. Would it? Why would Kotetsu's brother be visiting her at the hospital? Why would she even be in the hospi – oh sweet Kami! She looked down at her now barren womb and let out a terrified gasp. Where was her baby? What had happened?

Tears began streaming down her face and she uncharacteristically shrieked, "Where's my baby? What happened to my baby?"

Her panicked cries woke the snoring man instantly and he quickly stood to grab her flailing arms and attempt to calm her down.

"It's okay sensei, calm down. Everything is going to be okay," he soothed.

"Who the fuck are you? Get your hands off me. Where is my baby? What did you do with my baby?" she growled, hysterically slapping his hands away.

"Kaasan, why you hit Tetsu? Was he a bad ninja?" Hana asked drowsily, having just been woken up by the tussle.

"Kotetsu?" Tsume stopped her incessant beating of the man so she could get a better look at him.

"Hehe… yeah, they wouldn't let any of us in because none of us were related to you, and we didn't want you to be alone, so I might have, ummm… you know, lied a little," he said sheepishly.

"About what?" she asked, still sniffling. "What happened? Where is my child?"

"Well the henge obviously, I… uhh... I told them I was the baby's father so they would let me in."

"What!?" Tsume questioned fiercely.

"Well actually, you know it turned out to be a good thing, because after they got the baby out he was turning blue. Apparently he'd gotten tangled up on his way out and he wasn't getting enough air. They needed permission to hook him up to oxygen and with you out cold only his father could do it. Luckily I was here to save the day and told them to do it."

"So he's okay? My baby's okay?" Tsume sobbed with relief into the arms of her baby's "daddy" as he comfortingly embraced her. Finally she felt like she could breathe again.

"Kotetsu, where is he? Can I see him? I want to see him before I give him a name."

"Too late! Haha!" Hana announced, giggling madly.

Tsume's face fell. "What does she mean by too late, Kotetsu? I thought you said he was okay."

"Shhh… he is okay sensei," he tried calming her again, while Hana continued snickering.

"Don't shush me boy. What is she talking about?"

Stepping back away from his irate sensei, his hand scratching the back of his head self consciously, guilt written all over his face, he answered apologetically, "Well, ummm… for the baby, so before they can do anything, you know, like the oxygen, for the baby, you know the father has to sign, so it's okay… ummm, and the hospital had like, ummm… all this paperwork, so yeah, for the baby I filled it out, and you know for the baby."

"Kotetsu, you have 30 seconds to tell me what the hell is going on before I castrate you."

Instantly straightening up his act, the genin explained clearly, "Before they could put the baby on oxygen I had to fill out his paperwork. To do so I had to give him a name."

"You named my baby?"

"No! Wrong!" Hana yelled loudly in her ear. "Hana-chan named the baby! I named him Kaasan! I told Tetsu, I his onee-chan so I name him."

Hana was now standing proudly atop the bed, her chest puffed out grandly, while she pointed animatedly at herself. The giant self-satisfied grin she wore gloriously had Tsume wondering if she even really wanted to know her son's name.

"Well what did you name him Hana?" she asked calmly, while dreading the response. Memories of goldfish named Foof, Dirty Butt, and Pooper flashed through her head.

"Hana named him Fang, Kaasan!" she crowed.

"Fang?" Tsume cringed inwardly. Hana had named her new baby brother after her father's nin-dog, and Tsume just didn't think that was something she could live with.

"Well not exactly," Kotetsu whispered, giving her some last vestige of hope. "While I did humor her, I also remembered that Fang is their dead beat good-for-nothing father's dog's name."

The boy slipped her a piece of paper which she identified as her baby's birth certificate, and there she saw:

Name: Inuzuka Kiba

Date of Birth: July 7

Mother: Inuzuka Tsume

Father: Hagane Kotetsu

"Kiba?" she looked at her baby's "father" and smiled, she could live with Kiba.

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July 23

In the heart of Fire Country in the middle of summer unbearable heat is par for the course. Feeling the effects of the inhumane heat sweat dripped down his back soaking his shirt, and his pants clung to his legs in an unsightly manner but he pushed the discomfort from his mind. A ninja should not be affected by his outside environment. Now six years old he would be entering the academy in less than two months and if he hoped to make his father proud enough to forget his involvement in the whole Obito debacle he needed to train more, a lot more. Launching his small body through the air, he flipped end over end shooting 6 of the 8 kunai he held in his hands.

Landing in a crouched position his arms flew out from his sides propelling the remaining kunai at their intended marks. Leaping to his feet he ran over to examine the targets. 5 of the 8 projectiles were firmly lodged dead center in the target. Of the remaining three one was also a bulls-eye, but barely stuck at all, his aim had been true but he hadn't put enough force behind the throw. The other two were deeply embedded in the wood but just outside the center, both slightly off to the right.

The off-center kunai had been the first two he threw. He hypothesized that he had concentrated too thoroughly on the physical gymnastics of the move and hadn't managed to memorize the targets location. This particular move was difficult because it was a blind skill. When done correctly the shinobi would know the location of the enemy before beginning the flip and fling his kunai based on memory, as it was too difficult to land the punch front flip if your eyes were focused on something else. After dislodging his weapons, he moved the targets again for another attempt. Most shinobi would have left them where they were but Itachi wasn't most shinobi, even if it was only practice he wanted it as close to the real situation as he could get. In a combat situation he would only have seconds to locate and memorize his mark. Leaving the targets as is would only build familiarity with that formation, effectively rendering the exercise useless.

Shimmying up a tall bamboo to place his final target, Itachi glanced around the clearing looking for any stray kunai before hopping down to give it one last attempt before returning home for supper. Midway through his leap he noticed something was horribly wrong, and held onto all four of the remaining projectiles. Upon landing he spun and hurled every one of them at the darkly cloaked figure.

A futile task indeed; the applause greeting his ears brought a lump to his throat and a sinking to his gut. Completely helpless against this opponent Itachi forced himself not to try and run away. He'd learned from experience that it was useless anyway, there was no way he could outrun this man. There was absolutely nothing he could do against a foe of his caliber and that knowledge was debilitating to the young Uchiha.

"What do you want?" he managed to whisper through his fear.

"Hahaha," the man laughed menacingly. "Oh Itachi-kun, what makes you think I want anything? Can't a man just stop by for a social call with his family?"

"We're not family," Itachi denied the man's claim.

"Oh you say that, but you don't mean it Itachi-kun," he said mockingly. "After all you are wearing my crest emblazoned on the back of your shirt."

Ripping the shirt from his tiny body Itachi threw it on the ground. "We're not family!" he repeated, spitting on the offending garment for punctuation.

"Oh but you wound me Itachi-kun," he said, and suddenly he was beside the boy speaking directly in his ear, his voice low and ominous. "And you certainly wouldn't want to do that now, would you?"

"What do you want?" Itachi asked again, his voice trembling along with his body.

"Oh fine, you got me. I didn't just come for a social visit. You're getting good my boy," he said wagging his finger back and forth in the young boy's face.

"How is Obito doing?"

"He is fine," Itachi answered, cautiously, unsure as to where this was going, that man was always up to something, and nothing he was up to was ever good.

"How is that eye we gave him working out?"

"I wouldn't know I'm not even in the academy yet. I can't go on missions."

"Don't play games with me Itachi-kun. It would not be wise. I promise you that I'll win. I know you know how he is doing. You've been spending quite a bit of time with our little friend."

"He's not your friend," Itachi hissed.

"Oh but he is, he just doesn't know it yet. I gave him a precious gift and I think it's about time he thanked me for it. Don't you?"

"No! He doesn't know it's from you, as far as he's concerned I got it for him."

"So you're taking all the credit for my present? Do you really think that's fair when I went through so much trouble for him?"

"What trouble?" Itachi yelled, his anger and his desire to protect his new and only friend Obito winning out over his fear of the dangerous shinobi in front of him. "I did everything, and I'm the one who is in trouble for it. You didn't do anything."

"Hahaha," the man laughed as if they were in on a private joke and it made Itachi want to throw up. "You are quite amusing Itachi-kun. Always good for a laugh."

"I hate you," the boy answered indignantly despite his nightmare turned flesh standing before his eyes.

"Now it's time to listen," the man said, suddenly serious, making Itachi wonder if his confession would have been better kept to himself. "You will arrange a meeting between myself and our young friend. I'm sure Obito will have much greater appreciation for me than you. Ungrateful brat that you are. I've chosen you for greatness and you remain unappreciative of the honor I've bestowed upon you. Unlike you, he will know a great opportunity when he sees it."

"You're wrong. He'll hate you even more than I do," Itachi shouted in Obito's defense. He knew the older boy would want nothing to do with this ancient monster. Obito's moral compass was by far superior to any other Uchiha Itachi had encountered, and he knew anything this man wanted could only be bad for Konoha. Obito would never be interested in helping him out.

"Be that as it may, you will bring him here two weeks from now or I promise that you won't like the things I'll make you do."

Winking evilly at Itachi the man disappeared and Itachi collapsed to the ground in tears. This was just too much for him to handle. At just 6 years old he couldn't hope to compete with someone even half as powerful as that man, and he couldn't think of a way out of the mess he was already in. Calming himself and stopping his tears, Itachi thought that maybe involving Obito might be a good think after all. Conceivably, together they could come up with a plan to be rid of him. Even if that was impossibility, Itachi guiltily felt a little thankful that regardless of the outcome, in another two weeks this wouldn't be his burden to shoulder alone.

Getting up and dusting the dirt from his shorts, Itachi turned to head home. He knew he was going to catch hell for the state of his attire and the complete lack of a shirt, but he couldn't bring himself to care. There was no way he was putting that shirt back on, in fact from this day forward he absolved to never wear anything that bore an Uchiha crest again; he wouldn't allow that man the satisfaction. Defiantly he headed home proudly baring his naked torso.

Walking up to the Uchiha manor Itachi noticed from a distance that something was awry. Several of his older uncles and cousins were standing outside, cigars in hand, chatting jovially with his father whose perpetual scowl seemed somehow less pronounced, and the sound of loud women chatting excitedly carried out of the house and down to the front courtyard. Even catching sight of Itachi's unkempt appearance didn't seem to dull his father's mood, and when the boy got close enough he clapped him on the back cheerfully.

"Musuko, why don't you go inside? Your mother has a surprise for you."

Feeling pretty positive he knew what the surprise was, Itachi wasn't the great hope of the Uchiha clan for nothing, he walked in to the house and headed back to the newly finished nursery. As he'd suspected his mother was sitting quietly with the new baby rocking back and forth in the same antique wooden rocker she'd rocked Itachi in.

"Itachi," she said softly, smiling sweetly at her now oldest son. "Come here, meet your otouto. His name is Sasuke, and he's going to love you so much."

When he reached his mother's side she held the baby out, gently placing the sleeping infant into his arms. Hugging him close, being careful not to drop him, Itachi could feel the warmth coming from his petite body, and the soft beating of his tiny heart.

"Sasuke?" he said reverently, looking into his otouto's peaceful face.

"Sasuke," his mother repeated. "He's going to need you to help him figure out his place in the world Itachi-kun. I know you'll do your best to help him out and that you're going to be the best big brother anyone could hope for."

Gazing at the innocent face of his baby brother, **his** otouto, Itachi vowed to be the best brother he could be; as long as he was around nobody would ever harm Uchiha Sasuke.

A/N: Thank you NS4ever and EtoileEyes for your kind reviews. I have decided not to do a time skip of any great length just yet, though one might come up in the future. Begging for reviews didn't do me any good last time so maybe if I just ask politely. Excuse me kind readers, would you please leave me a review? I would appreciate it ever so much. Thank you all for reading!


	14. Moments That Take Our Breath Away P1

Disclaimer: Sadly I make no money off of this. Fan fiction just doesn't pay the bills like you would think.

Chapter 14 – The Moments That Take Our Breath Away

September 22

Inoichi sat uncomfortably on a small vinyl chair in Konoha Generals maternity ward, his bare legs sticking to the cheap upholstery made him regret his choice of shorts for the occasion. In the surrounding area were numerous well wishers; all shinobi and all as equally uncomfortable as he was. Good or bad circumstances, as a rule, shinobi hated hospitals. Across from him Choza stood leaning against the wall, his chunky friend refused to ever sit in the cheap furniture. Though Inoichi knew he was probably to blame for this odd quirk, he could mostly care less. The Akamichi smiled at him broadly. "Who do you think will be a father first? You or Shikaku?"He asked, goofy smile never fading. Ever since his son Choji's birth it had been plastered across his face and no amount of teasing had been able to dim it, and Inoichi had tried – frequently.

"It'll be Inoichi, just because that would piss of Yoshino. She's been in there all day, Iku only got there 2 hours ago, so if she manages to push out the fruit of your loins before my wife it will somehow manage to be my fault, and I will be punished accordingly. So we can all count on Iku to deliver first. Everything in my life has to be troublesome," Shikaku answered before Inoichi could even open his mouth. "Why did they have to put them both in the same room? Sweet Kami, why?"

"What are you even doing down here?" Inoichi asked the grumbling man. "I thought Yoshino said your presence was required in the delivery room?"

"It was, until I pointed out that she was squeezing the life out of my hand. She wasn't even having contractions, so I said it would be nice if she knocked it off since if she continued to do so I wouldn't even be able to form hand seals, which would effectively cut off our source of income. Since she'll be on maternity leave for however long I need my hands to do my job correctly. Now my presence is forbidden."

"You're such a pussy sensei!" a loud cocky voice called out from across the lobby. Laughing, Inoichi turned toward the shouting to see Sarutobi Asuma walking toward them, the rest of Shikaku's team smirking behind him. "Stand up for yourself man. If you want to be in that delivery room you go up there and be in that delivery room, and don't let that woman tell you what to do. Stop being a wimp."

"Asuma," Kurenai scolded. "You shouldn't talk to sensei like that. Show him some respect."

"Kurenai-san we are no longer genin," Ebisu reminded her. "According to the shinobi handbook we are no longer required to refer to our team leader as sensei. Page 59 clearly states that the title of sempai is completely acceptable at this point in our shinobi careers. Though as we progress in rank we should be able to use the less formal –"

"Would you just shut it?" Asuma bellowed ignorant to the fact that his teammate was offering him support, albeit in his own odd way. "Keep that shit to yourself would you? It's boring and nobody wants to hear it."

"Well I don't think anyone wants to hear you either," Kurenai responded to his outburst, then turned to Shikaku. "We're here for you Sensei, but Ebisu and I will be sitting over by the soda machine, as far away from this baka as we can get. Please forgive us and let us know of any changes in the baby's status."

With that she and Ebisu walked over to take their seats by the soda machine, leaving Inoichi to wonder what was going on. In all his past interactions with Shikaku's team the pretty little kunoichi had always taken the Sarutobi's side, sometimes even when Ebisu was clearly in the right, often blushing in the process. Asuma offered a small smile to his "sempai" and told them he'd be over talking with Inoichi's team if they needed anything.

"What the hell's going on there?" Inoichi asked when the boy was out of earshot.

"Ugh, just teenage hormones rearing their ugly heads. So troublesome. I caught Asuma and Kurenai making out at the practice field two weeks ago. Everything seemed fine, until Kurenai saw him flirting with Kato Suzume. She went ape shit and accused him of using her. He said she was crazy and jealous and now things are like what you just saw. Petty arguing and childish infighting. Ebisu eats the shit up because he knows Asuma gets pissed that Kurenai spends more time talking to him now," Shikaku explained to the Yamanaka, who truth be told, was probably the biggest gossip in Konoha.

"Whew, I'm glad I never had that problem. The only girl Ibiki's ever been interested in is Shizune, and she's not even in the village. Genma's interested in everything in a skirt, and out sweet little Tsubaki has no trouble telling him he's a pig when he makes passes at her," Inoichi mused on the workings of his own team.

"Well isn't that great for you? Fucker," Shikaku mumbled jealously.

"Are you both really going to stay down here while your wives suffer to bring the greatest joy you'll ever know into the world?" Choza inquired.

"Oh man, are you ever gonna quit with the sappy bullshit?" Inoichi shot out. "And yes I am going to sit down here the entire time. My crazy wife is terrified that she won't look her best during child birth and has denied me entry to the room. I won't be seeing my son until she's had time to compose herself."

Shikaku snickered before announcing he was going back up in a few minutes. Even if the harpy upstairs said she didn't want him around, Shikaku and his friends knew she would never forgive her husband if he missed the birth of their child.

Inoichi tried to recline in the awful chair in an attempt to make it tolerable to sit in which caused the cheaply made seat to bend and buckle; unceremoniously dropping him to the floor. While normally he could have caught himself before smacking into the ground, the distracting thought of his wife delivering his son all alone monopolized his thoughts and he'd already hit the ground before he realized what was going on.

"Nice one sempai!" his own student Genma shouted to him from across the room.

"Shut your trap and get over here to help me up!"

"Awww… man," the chunin grumbled as he made his way over to the now grumpy jonin. "Sorry sempai."

Pulling his sensei to his feet, the teenage lothario took the time to notice the beautiful Kurenai sitting idle over by the soda machine and turned to walk over to her. The cocky grin on his face told Inoichi all he needed to know about his former student's intentions and he decided to take action.

"No," Inoichi said forcefully.

"What?" Genma feigned innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Bullshit. Don't feed me that garbage, and stay away from her. We don't need any trouble with Shikaku's team."

"Really sempai, I was just going to say hello, that's all. Just keeping the lines of communication open with my fellow shinobi."

"Oh? Tell me then, why is it that you only seem interested in communicating with the kunoichi? And why is it that when I see you 'communicating' there never seems to be any talking going on? Have you developed a new form of exchanging information in which you use your tongue to tap out a message?"

"Yeah, and it's very covert sempai. It's perfect for spying missions where you have to be extremely quiet, no words at all. But I'm not that good at it yet, so I've always got to practice."

"Well why don't you go practice with Choza. I'm sure he'd like a lesson in this new conversational experience."

Choza smiled at the gawking teenager, and then puckered his lips making kissy faces at the boy.

"Hehe… I don't think so sempai, I'm not a teacher and I'm still training. I only practice with people who already know the code. I can't help it if they all seem to be kunoichi; women must be faster learners."

Inoichi shook his head, "Whatever baka, stay away from Kurenai, we don't need that trouble. And stop messing around with everything that has breasts. You're already getting a reputation for yourself and if it keeps up none of the kunoichi are going to want anything to do with you."

"That's what civilians are for sempai," the boy smirked and winked at the jonin as he headed in Kurenai's direction.

"He is something else Inoichi, something else," Choza observed happily.

"He's a pain in the ass, that's what he is. 5 to 1 he meets up with her later and at some point in the near future I wind up breaking up a fight between him and Asuma. Sometimes I just want to smack him around."

"If I remember correctly that didn't work real well when Koharu-sensei tried it on you."

"Choza!" Inoichi cried indignantly. "I was never as bad as he is. That boy's dick is going to fall right off if he doesn't straighten himself out. He's already messing around with more women then I have in my entire life and he's only 16." Sighing Inoichi stood to stretch out his muscles and wondered how much longer it would take. While maybe he didn't show it as much as Choza, he was excited to be a father. As his wife's pregnancy progressed he found himself daydreaming frequently about taking his son camping and fishing, passing down the family jutsu, hunting and skinning deer (though he'd be sure to keep that last one from Shikaku), and cheering on their favorite soccer teams. Now the time was nigh, in just a short time he was actually going to be someone's daddy, and thought thrilled him to no end. Choza's idiotic grin must have be contagious, Inoichi thought, because it had now made its way on his own face, and he wished he could see Shikaku's to find out if he too now suffered from the ailment. Alas, the shadow user was up in the delivery room anxiously waiting for his own little bundle of joy. Shit, that was it; he couldn't hang out with Choza anymore. If Genma, Ibiki, or Tsubaki ever heard him spouting nonsense about bundles of joy and the like he would never live it down. Inoichi-sensei had the reputation of a hard ass to keep up after all.

"Don't you want to know what's going on?" Choza asked him again. "What if something happens? Don't you want to be there?"

Inoichi raised his eyes menacingly to glare at his overweight companion. "Do you have to keep saying shit like that? It's not that I don't want to be in there. I'm not wanted. Not allowed. Iku's afraid if I see her during labor I'll be so repulsed by her appearance and the grossness of the delivery that I won't ever sleep with her again and I'll stop loving her. She doesn't want me in there. No matter how much I might want to be."

"Don't you want to prove her wrong?" Choza asked.

"Huh? What?" Inoichi was often a little dense.

"Prove her wrong you dumbass. Let her know you love her, regardless of how terrible she looks at the moment or how gross it is in there. Go on up there and let her see you're here for her, and you care for more about her then her pretty face. You and I both know that's not what snagged the young Casanova, Yamanaka Inoichi, but maybe Iku doesn't."

"You're right. I should go up."

"Damn right you should, besides someone should be there to protect Shikaku from Yoshino when Iku manages to deliver first."

Inoichi stood to begin making his way up to the forbidden delivery room, deciding to pick up a drink on the way. Surmising that Shikaku could probably use one too, he walked over to the soda machine where Genma was slyly slipping a small piece of paper, which no doubt carried the digits to Yuhi Kurenai's phone number, into his flack vest.

"Give it back," Inoichi ordered the teenager.

"What are you talking about?" the youth answered feigning ignorance.

"Don't play stupid with me. Give it back."

"What's the matter sensei? Why are you insulting poor Kurenai? She's a very nice girl, and I know how protective you are of me and the rest of the team but there is no reason to act like she isn't good enough for me," he said while flashing his lady killing smile in her direction.

"This is exactly why you are going to give that phone number back," Inoichi said to Genma, and then turned toward Kurenai. "No offense has been intended Kurenai, but I am ordering him to return your phone number because you can do a lot better than my skirt chasing friend over here. You deserve someone who will treat you right young lady, and this cad is not the one for the job."

Kurenai glanced nervously back and forth between the jonin and his former student, feeling like maybe she'd involved herself in something she shouldn't have. The two men glared at one another for what felt like hours before Genma grudgingly stuck his hand in his vest and returned he piece of paper in question.

Smiling confidently at the pretty young kunoichi he winked as he told her, "Don't worry sweetheart, I've memorized it, and I'll definitely be giving you a call later."

Inoichi growled as his ex-student walked away; his cocky strut only serving to further anger the fuming Yamanaka. That little bastard was going to start problems, he was sure of it. So far the self proclaimed "stud" had managed not to piss off anyone, but Inoichi knew from experience that sooner or later the philanderer would wind up in hot water. Inoichi knew firsthand what the end of a jilted lover's fist felt like when it smashed into an unsuspecting face. He could only hope the idiot didn't have that stupid senbon in his mouth when it happened. Removing sharp objects from someone's brain wasn't always an easy task, not to mention it might mess up that pretty face he was so proud of.

Pushing all that nonsense to the back of his mind, Inoichi grabbed his Coke's from the vending machine, silently wishing they had been Pepsi's, and climbed the stairs to the maternity ward. Quickly discerning the proper room from the caustic remarks being screamed at Shikaku, he made his way into hostile territory.

"It's about time you made it up here, you good-for-nothing waste of a pretty face. Your poor wife's up here suffering through the worst pain of her life and your lounging around downstairs sipping on soda and chatting away with your friends," Yoshino's sweet voice assaulted him as he offered Shikaku the drink.

Unfortunately for the Nara, he was sitting far too close to his beast of a wife and as he took it from Inoichi's hand she slapped it to the floor.

"Absolutely not! If I can't have any soda right now, neither can you. From the beginning you said we'd do this together, and right now that involves us suffering together."

Quickly wiping the shock from his face Shikaku took his wife's hand gently in his own. "You're right baby, I'm sorry. I forgot how hard this is on you. How could I even think of having a soda when you aren't even allowed to have a glass of water? It doesn't matter how dry my mouth is, yours is probably worse, and you're right. We're in this together. I won't have any drinks, hell, I won't even have any food, until you can too baby. You know what I won't even go to the bathroom until you can. I'm here for _you_ and that is all that matters."

Inoichi did his best not to laugh as the master strategist killed his wife with kindness. Yoshino could definitely be a shrew, but underneath that hard exterior was a gentle, kind, and good woman. Shikaku had seen it right away (Inoichi and Choza had taken much much longer to notice), and fallen for her hard, simply managing to find ways around the hard mask she built.

"Sumimasen, honey. Have the soda. There's no use in both of us suffering." Inoichi heard Yoshino fall in to her husband's carefully worded trap as he pushed aside the curtain hiding his wife from sight.

Her light blond hair was matted to her head with sweat from the exertion of labor and her skin was flushed a bright pink, while a sweaty sheen glistened on her nose and cheeks. A mixture of horror and relief flooded her beautiful green eyes as she looked at him, than she cried out in pain as another contraction wracked her tiny body.

Immediately at her side Inoichi took her small hand in his own and looked her right in her tear stricken eyes. "Iku, I don't think you have ever looked more beautiful to me then you do right now."

What surprised him most was that he meant exactly what he'd said. She was about to bring his child into the world and as sappy and Choza-like as it was, he could think of nothing that could make her more gorgeous then she was right at this exact moment.

Hours later Inoichi was starting to have enough of this. Antsy and irritable, he couldn't wait for it to be over, and he wasn't even one of the people in pain. Yoshino was getting nastier by the minute and Iku looked about ready to expire. Their shared doctor (who could have known they would go into labor on the same day when Yoshino had recommended her OBGYN to Iku?), entered the room and began an examination of both women.

"Look ladies, this has been a long and trying day. You've been at this all day long and I know both of you are tired. So to speed this to its natural conclusion I'm going to perform a medical jutsu on you if it's okay with you."

"Its fine with me," Iku replied softly, too tired to muster up any kind of volume.

Yoshino on the other hand seemed to have no such issue. "Are you kidding me? Do you mean to tell me that this could have been over with hours ago and you let us sit here twiddling our thumbs in agonizing pain? What kind of sadist are you?" she raged.

"Yoshino, stop it!" Shikaku said authoritatively. "He's going to do it now, and your yelling is only postponing it further. Iku shouldn't have to suffer longer just because you have a big mouth."

Crises averted the man performed the miracle jutsu on first Yoshino and then Iku. At 11:46 PM the doctor announced the Nara's had a little boy. Dark haired and quiet, at first Inoichi thought the little guy was dead. The nurse had had to give him a smack just for him to manage a few pitiful cries before going back to sleep. Shikaku beamed as he held his son and Inoichi announced, "I guess now we're all going to be able to take the new Ino-Shika-Cho boys camping together!"

Twenty minutes later, at 12:06 AM of the next day, the doctor handed Inoichi his very own bundle of joy, and looking down he could honestly say that his little girl was everything he'd ever wanted.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

October 10

Fall had come quickly to Konoha this year and many, if not most, of Fire Country's trees were long since barren of their usually lush green foliage. The few trees managing to maintain their leaves were now painted in brilliant reds, vivid yellows, and bright oranges, which were beautifully showcased during the day when the sun's golden rays illuminated their natural elegance. At night however, in the deep dark of Konoha's Forest of Death, the desolate branches of the naked tree legion clawed their way up into the night sky in a terrifying visage that could steal the bravery from men's hearts. Beneath the derelict branches a nervous and panicky Obito watched Uchiha Madara finish preparation for his devastating plan, and hoped beyond hope that his own plan would prove to be the superior.

Madara meant to call forth the Kyuubi no Yoko and rein down destruction on Konoha. With the combined power of himself and Obito he would open a portal to the hell dimension that held it captive and free the nine tailed demon fox. Using his own sharingan he could control the uncontrollable and call fire down from the heavens to level the great Fire Nation in the name of his justice. Quiet in the darkness of the night Obito and Itachi tried vainly to keep faith in their own counter attack, even though being so close and feeling astutely the raw power of the Uchiha patriarch was dampening their resolve.

"Are you ready boys? We're about to make Konoha history," Madara cackled as he ignited the giant bonfire that would serve as the Kyuubi's doorway to the mortal realm.

Obito smiled evilly, even though it hurt his heart to do so, nodding concurrently with Itachi at the villainous Uchiha, they continued with the farcical charade. It was imperative to their plan that the lunatic believe they were fully vested in his own, and as equally full of hatred for Konoha as he was. It had been a difficult task, but one Obito believed they had managed to pull off. They'd spent the past three months cursing the Hokage, insulting every ninja he knew (including his savior Tsunade-hime), and blaspheming even the Uchiha clan itself. Obito had called upon his own abandonment by the clan for the bas of his scorn, while Itachi attributed his to the stolen eye fiasco. Now he could only pray it would be enough. Madara had to believe in their uncompromising loyalty or their plan wouldn't work. If his faith in them wavered he would be on edge; much more likely to notice anything out of the ordinary. He had to trust them completely for their betrayal to have any chance of succeeding. If he thought for even a second that either Obito or Itachi were not completely zealous in their commitment to the task he could and would take over their bodies and perform the ritual on his own. If that happened they were doomed.

"Soon my boys, soon. In just a few hours we will lay waste to this cursed village. The corruption that plagues this city will be burned away in the cleansing inferno I bring upon it. And from the ashes we will emerge to build a better Konoha, a new visage, one with an Uchiha clan to be proud of. And you two, without whom this would not be possible will be my right and left hands. Harbingers of a new world; greatness will be ours."

If the man wasn't a raving psychopath his speech probably could have been inspiring, and Obito could understand how his ancient ancestors could have been roused to battle, energized to fight at his side. Before he'd gone insane Obito could believe the maniac would have been a great leader, one worthy of the history books his name was in. But that as long ago, archaic history, and this was now. Today he was nothing but a deranged psycho who wanted to destroy everything Obito loved and cared about. Today that man was going to die, or else he and Itachi would, along with everyone else who called the village hidden in the leaves home. But that wasn't going to happen, he couldn't let it.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

Madara smiled brightly at the two young men before him. The best the Uchiha clan had to offer, while they were certainly not up to the caliber of Izuna*, they were still young and held unlimited amounts of potential. They would serve him well. He had spent the last three months poisoning them against Konoha, its pitiful ideals, and all they held dear. It had been difficult in the beginning, but with the proper prodding they'd come around and now he couldn't be prouder. He'd taken on the role of an overzealous father, but what could he say? For all intents and purposes, after tonight he would be their father.

To show his appreciation for their devotion he had arranged a surprise. Sitting not too far away, deep in the Forest of Death sat an army one thousand samurai strong; tasked to help in the decimation of Konoha's people. Those not swept away in the Kyuubi's tide of destruction would be scrubbed from the earth by his minions. Two groups of five hundred, each led by his go-to-guys, they would be unstoppable for the disoriented confused people left remaining in the wake of the demon fox. Madara couldn't wait to see their faces when he gifted them each with their own command. After successfully summoning the fox, he'd show them just how much he believed them to be worth.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

Kushina lay in bed panting heavily. Her contractions were getting closer and closer together, signaling that soon her baby would be entering the world. Minato paced the bedroom excitedly, his great enthusiasm leaving him unable to sit still for more than a second. Though she knew he was ridiculously worried something would go wrong (he'd refused to take her to the hospital for fear that the move would hurt her or the baby, instead demanding their bed chamber turned into a delivery room), she had also never seen him so happy.

As far as Kushina was concerned, when Minato smiled the world smiled with him. Her husband's good mood could light up a room the way sun lit the day. And with the way he was smiling right now she was pretty sure he could replace the sun and nobody would notice except to say it had gotten brighter out. The happiness Minato brought to the room was so infectious she herself could barely keep a smile off her face, despite the gut wrenching pain periodically shooting through her body.

Very soon their son would be joining the world and nothing would ever be the same.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

The full moon was now directly overhead and the time for starting the ritual was nigh. Itachi and Obito took their positions flanking Madara to the east and west, while the proud architect of Konoha's demise stood front and center, directly in front of the now roaring blaze beginning the koumajutsu*.

"Kijo Kitsune, kokako karamiau motte watashitachi*," Madara began to chant, his voice becoming louder and rising to a fevered pitch with each repetition of the incantation. Chakra crackled in the air and Itachi struggled to keep hold of the wriggling fox in his arms.

The sacrificial animal was scratching and clawing to get away. Even managing to bite Itachi in its attempt to escape, as if the beast knew its fate was to be thrown into the flames to burn to ash. Itachi tried futilely to calm it. After all, if everything went as planned the squirming little critter in his arms would be free to go at the end of the night. Until then, it too had a part to play, and Itachi prayed to the Will of Fire that the small animal was good at its roll. Everything he knew depended on it.

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Minato watched Kushina's face screw up in pain as she struggled to push their baby out into the world. The doctor said it would be soon but he was finding it more and more difficult to believe the man as the minutes ticked by endlessly with no visit from his child. The waiting was making him more and more anxious and worried. The longer this labor went on the greater the chance grew that Kushina wouldn't make through to the end. Women from Whirlpool country were notorious for dying in childbirth and Minato refused to believe his wife would become part of the statistics, it was unallowable. If he had to make a deal with the shinigami himself, he'd see she made it through.

"Breathe baby, breathe," he coached her. "It'll be over soon. Just hang in their sweetie. You can do this."

Grabbing his hand heartily, Kushina squeezed it reassuringly. "I know. I'm going to be fine. You're here with me and nothing can hurt me when Konoha's Hokage stands beside me."

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Obito watched as Madara's eyes bled from black to red, and the mangekyo began its spiral to oblivion. Soon his part in the plan would begin and he had to be convincing. As Madara's eyes spun increasingly faster, Obito could feel the buildup of intense chakra pressure forming in the air just above the fire and he strained to feel if there was anything similar occurring behind the ancient Uchiha leader. Unfortunately he felt nothing. Something was wrong, and they couldn't afford for anything to be wrong. Yet there was nothing he could do about it, if he moved Madara would know and their end would be that much quicker. Digging deep into his heart Obito found and latched onto trust. They still had time and Obito put his trust in the fact that they would make it. They just couldn't fail, could they? Not when so much was on the line. Konoha couldn't' afford it.

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Crouching our in the woods about 40 feet away from the plotting Uchiha's, Kakashi counted to ten and tried to get his breathing under control. He should have already begun his task; it was time consuming and required a great deal of concentration. This wasn't something he could just do at the drop of a hat. Maybe Obito could, but Kakashi's body wasn't built to contain a sharingan, let alone one with the power of the mangekyo, and its use took a great toll on his anatomy. Before he could begin though, he needed to calm himself down. There was no way he could perform such a complicated jutsu with his heart racing the way it was. Unfortunately adrenaline was gushing through his veins and it was just too hard for him to relax.

According to their plan Kakashi should have been able to sneak up on the Uchiha's through the rear section of the Forest of Death. A dangerous task no doubt; but nothing the great Hatake Kakashi couldn't handle. Ordinarily that would have been true, regrettably tonight had not been ordinary. Upon entering the forest's rear gate, he'd noticed something was wrong. Much of the tall thin grass and the dry dead leaves littering the forest floor had been trampled and crushed, and the air was heavy with the stink of sweat. Protocol dictated that he alert the Hokage before proceeding, but he was already breaking protocol by even being in the forest, which was off limits to everyone but ANBU, and he had no time to waste. He was on a strict schedule and the Land of Fire could not afford for him to be late.

Then he'd come upon an enormous force of samurai wearing the symbol of Amegakure, camping out awaiting a signal for attack. Kakashi had tried to make it through the camp undetected; going around would have taken too much time and ended his night with his home burning in a big conflagration. He'd gotten through three quarters of the giant mass of men when someone spotted him and raised an alarm. Sprinting for the trees Kakashi was much faster than any of the men chasing him and could have escaped with ease, but he didn't want them following him to his destination and alerting Madara to his presence. As loud as they were he feared they may have already given him away.

Instead of rushing on and losing them in the forest, Kakashi doubled back and engaged the five soldiers on his trail in combat. They were poorly trained and he could have killed them all easily but feared another party would just be sent in their stead. In lieu of that thought he killed only one then used a genjutsu to disguise the body as his own, and sent a transformed clone back with them to camp. Once there it would disappear into the crowd and release itself. While that problem had been eliminated for the time being, he now had to deal with the current one. Frenzied and distracted, as well as behind schedule and drained of important chakra, Kakashi hoped he'd be able to pull this off.

He had to collect himself. It should be easy; he was always telling Anko it was anyway; even providing her with numerous strategies for switching off her emotions. He was now noticing she'd been right when she told him they were useless and not worth the energy he'd expended telling her about them.

Between Rin's departure, Minato-sensei's ascension to Hokage, and Obito's current obsession with Itachi, Kakashi had found himself growing remarkably close to the only person he seemed to be spending any time with, Anko. At first gland it would seem odd, even to him, the model student and the crazy snake girl? Friends? Come on. But they had more in common then he'd thought. Before she'd become the crazy snake girl Anko had been Orochimaru's model student, they both spent countless hours training while always aspiring to be the best, and neither truly enjoyed being around large groups of people, both in fact were mostly anti-social. On top of that, she never minced her words, what she said was exactly what she meant. Anko was the most honest person Kakashi had ever met in his life, and her friendship had come to mean more to him than he'd thought possible.

While they had gotten off to a rocky start, they'd managed to bond one night when Anko managed to do a convincing henge of an old lady, who Kakashi thought actually looked more like an old man, and purchased two bottles of sake from a civilian liquor store. She would be in a heap of trouble is she'd been found out, but nobody noticed and once it was in her possession she had convinced Kakashi they should test their alcohol endurance by each drinking a bottle. Rationalizing that they might need to imbibe alcoholic drinks some day on an undercover mission she'd been able to persuade him that it would be training. Neither one of them had been able to drink more than half of a bottle, and at the quarter of a bottle mark they had both gotten loose lips; turning into a couple of sad sacks.

Anko confessed to him her confusion, hurt, and anger at Orochimaru for abandoning her, while Kakashi confessed the same about his father's suicide. She'd cried at the admission that she'd believed she wasn't good enough for him to take along, and her fear that if she had been she might have been foolish enough to go. He'd held her through the sobs and assured her that the Mitarashi Anko he knew would never desert or betray Konoha; she was a Leaf shinobi to the core. And when his own tears began to fall as he discussed the discovery of his dead father, she'd hugged him closely until she decided he was wallowing, at which point she had slapped him in the face and told him not to be a pussy. Even though she was a new friend, Kakashi didn't think he'd ever had a better one.

Unfortunately, this new found closeness made it extremely difficult for him to sneak away unnoticed when Obito told him he had some crazy dangerous secret he needed to share. In fact he'd had to convince her to train with Kamizuki Izumo while he snuck away, claiming the genin needed help for his chunin exam. He'd failed to mention the boy was infatuated with her, which he knew she was going to be pissed about, but Izumo had promised him he'd keep her occupied for at least two hours, which had given him enough time for Obito's meeting. He could still remember Obito demanding he keep their mission secret from her.

"Don't tell her Kakashi, it's too dangerous, she's been through enough."

Kakashi swore he wouldn't say a word; he knew with Anko he wouldn't have to.

Thinking of Anko and remembering the direness of their situation worked magic on Kakashi's nerves. The scarecrow was nothing if not calm under pressure. True to form he worked his best when the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. Kakashi's mangekyo sharingan began to swirl and the boy hoped he'd managed to do it in time.

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Kushina closed her eyes for a minute due to sheer exhaustion. She'd done it, she'd brought their son into the world and she was still around to see him. Smiling as she looked at Minato cradling their baby in his arms, his grin so big she thought it might swallow his face, she had never felt more content then she did right at this moment. Though just born, her son had a full head of blond hair just like his father's and the brightest blue eyes she'd ever seen. If it wasn't for the slope of his nose or the determined set of his lips, Kushina would have thought Minato was the boys' only parent, so much alike did they look.

"What should we name him?" she asked her beaming husband.

"Did you finish Jiraiya-sama's new book?"

"You want to name him Naruto?" she said, having indeed read the book and knowing full well his line of thought.

"It's a good name," he assured her. "If he's even half as brave as his namesake Konoha will never have to worry again."

"Okay then. Namikaze Naruto it is," she said proudly.

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Finally! Obito could faintly feel the chakra pull that signified Kakashi had started the other vortex. While this was great news, and the most important part of their plan, it was also the point at which things would get complicated for Obito. Currently he was working with Madara to make his gateway large enough for the Kyuubi to exit after Itachi performed the animal sacrifice. Now with Kakashi's opened he had to split his chakra and help them both. If he didn't put enough into helping Kakashi the gate would never be big enough to fit Madara, but if he put too much Madara's gate would suffer and the man would notice Obito wasn't giving enough. It was completely believable that his ability to help Madara would wane as the ritual continued, they had been at this for over an hour, but too steep of a drop would have Obito's head on a platter. He concentrated as hard as he could, letting nothing distract him, and slowly moved chakra from one opening to the other, silently praying Madara was too focused on his own task to notice the treachery taking place right behind his back.

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Something was up. Anko was not an idiot; in fact she'd frequently been hailed as a genius, something her teammates forgot all too often. Usually it pissed her off; today it made her smile wickedly. She'd known something was going on for weeks, even if they wouldn't tell her what it was, or even that there was an "it" at all. She was also aware that it was something big, and the involvement of Uchiha Itachi was a given. That boy was around far too much lately for it to be a coincidence.

Obito frequently disappeared and Kakashi had begun intensive training on some vortex creating jutsu; training non-stop on its creation, to the point that he was neglecting all other aspects of his workout. For someone usually so regimented and disciplined this was insanity and Anko noticed it right away. Taking all of this into consideration, and adding in that little stunt Kakashi had pulled, training Izumo indeed (the love struck baka had spent the entire two hours staring at her and she could have sworn his hands had lingered for a bit too long when he'd "accidentally" brushed against her backside), she was sure whatever they were doing was not sanctioned by the Hokage. There was little Kakashi could hide from her and she intended to find out what was going on. So when he'd slipped out of the house in the middle of the night, only a few hours after Obito had done the same, she'd known it was go time, and slipped out after him, a silent shadow in the night. She was part of this team too damn it and she'd be damned if anything was going to happen to those boys on her watch.

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*Izuna – Madara's brother, whose eyes he has

*Koumajutsu – demon invocation

* Kijo Kitsune, kokako karamiau motte watashitachi – I think this means "Demoness fox, Lone traveler become intertwined with us" however I don't speak Japanese so it's very possible I'm wrong

A/N: Sorry to leave you hanging without an explanation but the chapter was getting so long I thought it would be better to split it up.

Also, I am looking for a beta reader if anyone feels so inclined. I've never had one before but I can't deny that the people who use them all write better than me, plus I think it might help with motivation to keep churning out the chapters on time. So if you would like to help me out, or could recommend someone who might be interested please let me know. Thanks!!

Please review.


	15. Moments That Take Our Breath Away P2

A/N: Don't own Naruto.

Chapter 15: The Moments That Take Our Breath Away (Part 2)

October 10

Madara scowled. The prolonged use of the sharingan was having more of an effect on Obito then he'd thought it would. The boys help in widening the portal was waning and his own chakra was draining at a faster rate than he'd thought it would, which was the only reason he'd noticed Obito's output at all. The enormous amounts of dark chakra spiraling out of the portal and his location directly in front of it made it impossible to feel, let alone gauge, anyone's chakra but his own. He'd had to increase his own chakra production just to keep the portal opening at the same pace ,which was the only indication he had that Obito was faltering. The amount of chakra he was expending for the summoning was incredible, but feeling the power coming from the doorway he knew it would all be worth it. Konoha would soon be paying for its crimes.

Once he deemed the gateway large enough he would signal Itachi, who would perform the ceremonial sacrifice; tossing the fox into the fire. Undoubtedly the entryway was nowhere near the size it needed to be yet, the nine tails was gigantic and their current doorway was barely able to clear the height of a young tree. Hopefully Obito would be able to hold out until they were finished, though it didn't look good. The boy's face was already sweating and his eyes were closed with the effort to remain focused on his task. Seeing the effort his protégé was putting in and thinking of the chakra he must be burning through for the cause wiped the scowl from his face. Even if he had to disburse more chakra then he'd counted on, the Kyubi would be here soon and today would be a good day.

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Itachi looked around in awe at all the chakra arching, lacing, and spiraling around him. Not only was Madara's and Obito's chakra churning the through the air around them, the unnatural chakra of the demon dimension was spilling out of the doorway and dancing in the wind. Now that Kakashi had opened the other portal and Obito was lost in his focus to work on both, it fell to Itachi to keep the plan rolling; it was his turn to have the most important task in their plan. He was the only one who could see the smaller opening and Madara at the same time, not to mention he was the only one able to keep his eyes open, and he had to be sure the gateway was large enough to fit their unwanted leader before he made his move. He also had to make sure they didn't allow it to grow so big that its presence became noticeable, though with all the chakra noise flying out of the giant demon doorway Itachi doubted anyone who didn't know to look for it would be able to find it.

It was Itachi's job to get Madara through that doorway, at any cost. While Obito had been training to widen portals and Kakashi to open them, Itachi had worked relentlessly on his speed. If he wasn't fast enough the consequences would be dire. There was the possibility Madara would see his movements and knowing what he was about, stop him before he accomplished the goal; in which case Konoha would burn. In another scenario the Uchiha patriarch could see him coming and step out of the way, sending Itachi flying into the portal himself, once again leaving Konoha in ashes. Yet another contingency allowed Itachi to push the man through the door only to be pulled in along with him. At least if that happened Konoha would survive and Sasuke would be safe. It was due to this possibility that Obito had been against the plan. Itachi recalled the conversation with nostalgia; it had been the first time anyone had expressed concern or worry for him other than his mother.

"_He could pull you into the vortex with him, it's not safe," Obito had argued._

"_I would gladly give my life for Konoha's safety. It is a small price to pay," Itachi had answered._

"_What? How can you say that?" the older Uchiha had exploded._

"_How can you not say it? A shinobi is a tool for the village. If my death can save the village it is a necessary one. What good is a tool that fails to do its job?"_

"_You're a person Itachi! Not a tool!" Obito had shouted, angry at the clan who had raised this child to put such little stock in his own worth._

"_Be that as it may, we have no other options. Unless of course __you've__ managed to come up with something?"_

_Obito had shaken his head. As much as he hated to admit it, while he was the heart of this operation, the 6 year old was definitely the brains._

Dragging himself from the fond memory of familial concern Itachi had to focus on the task at hand. To allow for the greatest amount of deception to occur before Madara could figure out their subterfuge, he had devised his own plan within the parameters of the group's plan. Relying on the craftiness of the squirming fox in his arms, when he perceived the doorway to be large enough he would allow the animal it's opportunity to spring free right towards Madara. Under the guise of recapturing their sacrifice Itachi would run seemingly recklessly in his zeal, toward them, taking the opportunity to knock that man right into hell. Never taking his eyes off Madara or the almost big enough portal, Itachi prayed everything went as planned; he had to protect his brother. Sasuke needed him and he couldn't fail.

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The Forest of Death? Were they serious? Of all the places for those idiots to be it just had to be the Forest of Death, the most forbidden location in the entire village. Leave it to her teammates to get them all demoted. Entrance into the Forest of Death was granted only for ANBU training purposes and the occasionally chunin exam, otherwise it was completely off limits to everyone in Konoha. Punishment for getting caught within it was severe, but Anko couldn't find it in herself to leave. She just had this awful feeling that her boys were in over their heads and there was no way she wouldn't be there to pull them out.

Noticing the large force of enemy samurai camping out, she knew her assumption had been right. Protocol dictated she inform the Hokage about the intruders before she continued on, but she was pretty certain she didn't have time for that, nor did she want to be kicked out of the ninja ranks which was certainly what would happen if she went directly to the Hokage. Shouting from up ahead in the camp confirmed her suspicions and she decided to ignore protocol to find her teammates. Nevertheless, observing the size of the enemy force Anko made the decision that backup could very well be necessary, even if it wasn't the Hokage, after all she had no idea what her teammates were up to in here.

She bit her thumb roughly, boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram, her fingers flew through the seals and she slammed her palm to the ground summoning a two foot long lime green snake. Looking up at her through yellow eyes Akasha hissed, "Itss been a long time ssinsse you had any need for me Anko. And now you call me out in the middle of the night? And in thisss plassse?"

"I am sorry Akasha-kun," Anko apologized. Normally she wasn't so polite to her summons but she needed cooperation right now. "I need you to carry a message for me. It's very important."

After a few minutes of haggling Akasha agreed to deliver the message at Anko's promise that she would call her out more frequently for battle, the snake's bloodlust was insatiable, and it was something she had been hesitant to do. Truth be told, since Orochimaru left her she hadn't summoned even a single snake up till this very moment. She'd been afraid to remind herself of anything that had to do with her sensei and worried that to do so would hurt her too much. It hadn't. She was okay and she was sure it had something to do with the morons out somewhere in this treacherous forest; the only family she had left. She had to hurry; something was telling her that the boys needed her.

Now able to feel a sinister chakra not far away, with Akasha's departure Anko took to the trees. Ever since she'd died (an experience far more painful than she ever let on), her velocity through the canopy of Konoha's trees was spectacular. Her improved eyesight, increased coordination, and boosted speed let her practically fly through the woods. But even as she raced along toward that awful aura, faster than anyone else could have gone, she had a terrible feeling that she still just wasn't fast enough.

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Obito tried not to smile. So far everything was playing out just as they'd planned it. Despite their slow start it looked like they were going to do okay as far as time went. Kakashi had improved his skill with the portal and he was pretty sure the opening was now big enough. Itachi didn't seem ready to make his move yet though, so Obito continued to pour his chakra into both doorways.

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Itachi took a deep breath. The gateway was finally big enough, bigger than they needed even, but he'd wanted to be sure. There was no way he wanted that man outside the door after he had obviously tried to push him in just because he'd been impatient and jumped the gun. Now though it was definitely large enough, it was time. Itachi held the fox up and began to shake the already volatile creature in preparation for his release, figuring the more riled up it was the more it would look like an accident that it got away. Unfortunately for all involved, Uchiha Madara chose that instant to bellow, "Now Itachi! Now!"

The man's shout startled the young boy just enough that during the ill-advised shaking process the fox was able to wiggle free. Disoriented by the rattling Itachi had given it, and doing everything in its power to get as far away from the frightening miasma engulfing the forest, the frightened animal unwittingly ran right into the fire. His cries of pain echoed in Itachi's ears as he managed to fail at the most important mission he'd ever been given. As all the breath left Itachi's lungs, Madara cackled maniacally.

"Sumimasen Sasuke," he whispered as he fell to his knees.

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Anko had been unable to discern what the hell was going on down on the forest floor below her hidden perch in the trees. The raging bonfire and evil chakra emanating from the portal within it could not be good and she just knew she should stop it. But Obito was down there participating in whatever it was, so maybe she was wrong. Obito wouldn't do something to hurt the village, right? Immediately after she had the thought she wished she could take it back. Her trust in her teammates was absolute and if Obito was down there then there was definitely a good reason for it. Quickly taking stock of her surroundings, in an attempt to figure out what was happening down there, she'd noticed Kakashi crouched in a bush not far from the fire. Concentration burned across his face and she decided interrupting him from whatever it was he was doing would be a poor decision.

Itachi kept his focus intently on the space directly behind the crazily grinning man who emanated more power than even Orochimaru, and she found to her annoyance that she couldn't see that spot from her position. She could tell that man would be trouble, but what kept drawing her eye was the boy's constant stare at a seemingly empty location. Moving to another branch she was able to see another portal.

Suddenly it fell into place, well not the exact story of what they were doing down there, but certainly she could tell her friends were working against this man, which meant he was the enemy. She could easily discern that the plan was to push this villain into Kakashi's vortex, what she didn't know was what they were waiting for. Anko was a girl of action, and her first instinct was to take out the opposition; knock him through that doorway there before anything bad could happen. But Kakashi had been telling her she was too rash, too quick to act, and too emotionally involved with everything she did; traits that would get her, if not all her teammates, killed one day. So in what she would come to view as the biggest mistake of her life, Anko did nothing but wait.

Seconds later the man's voice rang out, ("Now Itachi! Now!") and the fox's cries mixed with the demented cackle of her enemy.

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Obito's eyes snapped open at the sound of Madara's cry and he watched helplessly as the fox ran into the flames. No! This couldn't be happening, not when they had been so close. How did this happen? There plan had been sound, this shouldn't be happening. He didn't know what to do. He dropped his hold on Madara's portal all together but held onto Kakashi's in some futile hope that their plan could pull through, but honestly he had no idea how.

"Ahhhhh!" Itachi's gut wrenching scream pierced the night as the small boy flung himself at the man who had been tormenting him and torturing him in his dreams for over a year.

So caught up in the ecstasy of his plan finally coming to fruition Madara didn't seen the attack until it was too late and Itachi had knocked him back into Kakashi's portal. Regrettably, the bastard had noticed in time to grab the boy and pull him along for the fall into hell.

For Obito it was already hell, right here in Konoha, as he watched it all take place in slow motion. Itachi's small figure grabbed from behind, his body almost snapping together while his arms and hands met his legs and feet like the mandibles of a trap-jaw ant, as he was yanked backwards his panic stricken face, and terror filled eyes as they locked with Obito's own, were cataloged for eternity by his sharingan. He would never forget how helpless he felt at that moment, watching one of his few remaining family members ripped from his life was an experience forever burned into his soul.

So completely focused on the visual of what was happening, Obito failed to hear what was going on around him, everything falling away from his consciousness including the voice of one Mitarashi Anko.

"Sen'eijashu! Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

Suddenly Itachi was being wrenched back out of the portal as Anko's snakes bit into his arms, legs, hands, and feet; fangs sinking his flesh for a true hold than Madara could get with his one arm, his other being sucked too far into the doorway to do him any good. Unfortunately, as Anko pulled the little Uchiha out of the portal Madara clung to him and began to emerge as well. Still in shock, all Obito could do was stare.

"Kakashi! Close the portal!" Anko screamed out in distress, as she struggled against the pull of the vortex. Abruptly the spiraling hole vanished, dropping Itachi to the ground; Madara's arm still clutching his middle.

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Hearing Anko's shout Kakashi immediately closed the portal and practically collapsed. His body could barely move and his chakra resources were all but gone. Shakily he crawled to the clearing to see his friends and relieved to have gotten rid of the evil Uchiha. Upon clearing the bushes the horrific scene that met his eyes made him wish he could just close them and it would all go away.

The blazing hellfire remained, and crawling forth out of the flames, was the Kyubi no Yoko. Its malevolent chakra filled the small area; completely overwhelming all who stood before it. Without Madara to hold the portal open it should have collapsed on itself but the demon fox had been summoned and with its massive chakra it had continued to hold the gateway open. That was not to say it wasn't having some problems, its enormous form was too big for the opening and the demon was struggling to rip its body through.

Plagued with chakra exhaustion Obito lay crumpled on the ground, dragged to the far end of the clearing. Itachi stood, just barely, to the collapsed boys' right, his arms and legs dripping blood from the numerous holes puncturing his skin. To the forefront, protectively hovering defiantly before them, katana clutched in her right hand, stood Anko looking fiercer then any warrior Kakashi had ever seen. Ready to take on the demon, even though it surely meant her death, the kunoichi refused to lose any of her precious people. Kakashi intended for no such thing.

"Itachi, can you run?" he asked.

"I think so, I might be slow," the boy answered.

"That's okay, so long as we're moving," Kakashi said quietly, doing his best not to attract the attention of the thrashing demon. Painfully he pushed his abused body up from the forest floor. Looking to Anko, he motioned toward the unmoving Obito, "Can you carry him?"

"Hai," she answered. Sheathing her sword in one quick motion she knelt down and hoisted Obito's body onto her shoulders. "Let's move."

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A/N: I know this chapter is pretty terrible but I've redone it several times and I just can't make it better, and to be honest I just wanted to be done with it so I could move on to the next chapter. I hope you are able to get through it and stick around for the next one. I promise I will try to make it better.

Thanks for reading and please drop me a review. They're like candy, and who can ever get enough candy?


	16. Lights in the Dark

A/N: I would like to thank Kaori for being a wonderful beta. As this is the first betad chapter you may notice that suddenly my noun/pronoun usage has improved. I assure you that this is not the case, I owe her my correct grammar. Sidenote: She did not beta this author note so all errors within it are mine and mine alone.

Chapter 16 – Small Lights in the Dark

Carrying Obito's prone body through the woods was a cumbersome task, one that Anko did not relish in. Yet carry him she did, and upsettingly enough, even with her added cargo she was making better time than both of her injured companions. Kakashi was completely worn out, using the sharingan for such a long period of time had sapped him of all his chakra; she doubted he could even hold a kunai at this point. Itachi was injured severely, a direct consequence of her actions but she'd had no other option, if she hadn't done what she did he'd have been sucked away with Madara. With proper medical attention he would be fine, but he still seemed to be bleeding heavily and she just hoped they could get him to the hospital in time.

Bumbling through the forest trying to move as quietly as possible away from the escaping demon, Anko's drastically depleted four man cell was far too focused on what lay behind them. So much so in fact, that they'd forgotten what lay in front of them; it wasn't until they'd stumbled into the camp itself that they remembered the group of 1000 lodged between them and their escape. Much to Anko's horror, by the time they noticed where they were it was far too late to begin evasive maneuvers.

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Thunderous snores filled the night air, signifying to all in hearing distance that Kamizuki Izumo was indeed deep in slumber. The rise and fall of his chest came at even intervals even as he rolled from his back to his side languidly, taking a break from his snoring to sigh contentedly and murmur unintelligibly. Akasha watched from the window, determining her best mode of entry.

While breaking the glass and simply slithering through the remaining frame would no doubt be the most direct, Akasha knew in a house of ninja the sound of breaking glass would bring everyone running; a scenario she hoped to avoid. Instead she opted to slink around front where she'd earlier seen an open window. Entering into what she assumed was the living room she slipped through the darkened house and down the back hallway leading to the boy's room. Nudging the door open with her head she glided up next to his bed.

Observing the teenager deep in sleep she could feel no great chakra reserve, nor sense any inordinate power in him, making her question the wisdom of her master. How was this boy going to help in a fight against that evil chakra emanating from the forest? As foolish of a choice as she believed this to be, Anko had told her this boy would understand the importance of the secrecy she required and would definitely offer his support. Discerning the name of her master mixed in with the boy's sighs and moans, in addition to the near deafening snores he frequently released, she figured she knew the reason why, and decided it was time to wake him.

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Izumo sat up suddenly, trying to figure out what had woken him from his Anko laden dreams. If he'd believed thoughts of the violet haired kunoichi had filled his head a month ago, before he'd gotten the opportunity to train with her, he'd been sorely mistaken. Now that he had, visions of the sexy vixen permeated his every thought; saturating his brain with all things Anko.

Training with her had to be, in his opinion, the best day of his entire life. True she'd handed him his ass all day, and he'd spent most of it knocked flat on his back, but it had all been worth it. Many of the times she'd smashed him into the dirt had been followed by her straddling him and putting a kunai to his neck in signal of his defeat. And while that was not the optimal circumstances in which he wanted her to mount him, he'd take what he could get. Not to mention that when she was sparring with him she was often touching him, and he'd even managed at one point to cop a feel of her well toned derriere (though he was pretty sure she'd noticed because she had immediately called an end to their training). Unfortunately, being up close and personal with the girl of his dreams clothed only in a fishnet body stocking, miniskirt, and dangerously low half buttoned chunin vest also made it nearly impossible to think of anything but her. Tonight's dream was evidence enough of that, and also one he'd like to be getting back to.

"Kamissuke Isssumo?" a voice hissed in the darkness of his bedroom.

"Who's asking?" he demanded while simultaneously flipping on the light on his nightstand and fisting the kunai he kept hidden under his pillow.

Lightly illuminated by the sparse light his small lamp let off a bright green snake stood next to his bed answering him in a near whisper, "I am Akasha. Anko-sssama hasss sssent me to requessst your help."

Izumo leapt from his bed in response. Quickly suiting up and equipping himself for battle, despite the fact that he had no idea what Anko needed. That she needed anything from him at all was enough to get him out the door.

"What does she need? Is she okay? Where is she?" he bombarded her emissary with questions. If Anko was really in trouble there was no way he could refuse to help.

"Calm down baka, and I will tell you."

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With an earth wrenching roar the Kyubi no Yoko finally managed to tear herself free from the doorway that had threatened to pull her back to the hell dimension. Flailing her tails in victory over her would be captor she shattered the ground around her, uprooting almost half of the forest in her sadistic glee. Fires burned uncontrollably everywhere her extremities met the unsuspecting foliage bringing a sinister red glow to the already terrifying Forest of Death.

She could sense prey in the area but it was weak, and not what she was after in any case. She knew she'd sensed his chakra when the portal opened and her hate for him was all consuming. Expecting to see him and his accursed sharingan standing before her to force her into submission she was stunned to find him suspiciously absent. She searched the area for his sinister chakra, sure he was hatching something sinister from the shadows. He had to be hiding somewhere. She would find him, and this time she'd rip out his heart. She was the Kyubi no Yoko, the nine-tailed demon fox, single most powerful of all the tailed beasts, she could flatten mountains at a whim and she answered to no master; he would pay for his impudence.

Her hatred for Uchiha Madara was engrossing. Blinded by her all consuming rage for the man who had managed to enslave her to do his bidding, she cared nothing for anything other than seeing him destroyed. Unable to find him in the vicinity she turned from Konoha toward the last place she had seen him. The Valley of the End was where she would begin her search, and from there she'd tear the world asunder to bring about his destruction.

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Izumo raced across Konoha's rooftops heading for his teammate Rikku's house. He'd debated heading for the Forest of Death on his own, considering Akasha's demand for secrecy, but ninja or not, he knew taking out 1000 samurai was a task beyond his capabilities. He needed his team if he was going to be able to help Anko.

Plus by recruiting Rikku first he'd be able to cut his travel time in half. Over the past year his teammate had practically perfected her teleportation jutsus. Not to mention, she'd set up a system of seals from one end of the village to the other which allowed her to transport pretty much anything, including her team, to any of the seal locations while expending very little chakra. She had also set up at least one in every village they had managed to travel to during missions, but that was irrelevant to the task at hand. What was relevant was that there happened to be one at Kotetsu's house as well as in the Forest of Death (it was barely beyond the gate, as they'd had to sneak in and hadn't wanted to get caught, but would save a great deal of time nonetheless).

Finally reaching her house, Izumo chakra walked down its right side. Reaching an awning right below Rikku's window he dropped onto it and knocked on it repeatedly; getting louder with each repetition. For crying out loud what was she doing in there? Every second wasted was one in which Anko could be hurting.

At long last Rikku threw open her bedroom window angrily. "What the hell do you want? You do realize its 1:00 in the morning and normal people are fucking sleeping right?"

"Get dressed. Konoha needs us," he responded so solemnly she didn't even question him further. Minutes later the two of them appeared in Kotetsu's room to rouse him from sleep as well. It wasn't until the three of them were standing fully equipped and battle ready that he completely filled them in on the logistics of their task.

"1000 samurai?" Rikku looked stunned. "I hate to say this but I don't think we're enough Zumo. We're only genin."

"We have to be enough. We can't tell anyone else," he answered somberly.

"She's right," Kotetsu argued. "We're no match for 1000 men, even if they're just samurai and not ninja. Maybe 100, 200 even since it's dark and they might be poorly trained, but 1000 is too much."

"Listen to me guys. We have to help her. And it's not just our team, her team is there too. Kakashi is a jonin, that's gotta be good for taking out at least 300. Anko and Obito are both chunin, and everyone knows they'll make jonin at the next exam. If they both take out 200 that's 700, which means we've only got 300 for ourselves. We can do it. I know we can. Anko sent for us, which means she believes we can do it too. Come on, we're shinobi of Konoha, the best ninja village in the world, and they're just samurai, they can't even use chakra. They don't stand a chance."

Rikku looked up at him and the sparkle in her eyes told him all he needed to know about her decision before she even spoke.

"Dammit, your right Izumo. Let's show'em how it's done. Then when they're smashed by just a couple of genin they'll know how completely bad-ass Konoha shinobi can be. Let's kick their asses boys!" she expounded; a blood thirsty grin completely at home on her angelic face.

"Damn straight!" Kotetsu added with verve.

Completely enthused and ready to be Anko' knight in shining armor, Izumo failed to notice the carrier pigeon his teammates let loose before Rikku transported them to the forest.

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Much like every other jonin in Konoha worth his salt, Hyuga Hizashi felt the completely dominating and malevolent chakra emanating from the Forest of Death sweep over the village hidden in the leaves. But unlike those other jonin, he was in a position to do something about it.

Located at the edge of the Forest of Death the Hyuga compound was the closest thing to it for a reason. With the ability to monitor the wild wood without even entering it, the Hyuga clan had been given the responsibility of safeguarding it way back at the time of Konoha's creation. With the Uchihas being made Konoha's police force, the equally mighty in standing Hyuga had demanded an honor of their own. While many would debate as to whether or not this actually was on equal standing, Hizashi could care less. The only thing that mattered to him was the fact that as a Hyuga it was completely within his rights to investigate the disturbance.

Admittedly, much to his dismay, this probably wasn't the most opportune time, but he was the closest one to the anomaly.

"Hizashi-sensei, what is that?" the female reason for his dismay asked.

"I'm not certain, but we're going to find out. Pack up your things, we're going in," Hizashi informed his genin cell.

Within just a half mile of the Forest of Death's gate Hizashi's team had been out on a survival exercise. The chunin exam was only two months away and despite his initial reservations about his team's capabilities he had to concede Minato-sama's evaluation had been more accurate than his own and he was confident that they would make chunin easily.

He had been pleasantly surprised at the tenacity they had shown toward achieving their goals. Recalling their initial meeting he remembered how honored the three of them had been to have him as their sensei, and how their positive attitudes had managed to effect his own. They had been awed and felt privileged to be taught by Hyuga Hizashi, and it hadn't been because of his Hyuga name, they hadn't cared about his branch member status or the mark on his forehead. They had measured his worth not by his birth order or family rank, but by his own actions and merits and in doing so had opened his eyes and given him hope for the future.

From then on Hizashi had been a changed man, and he'd thrown himself heart, body, and soul into their teaching. After all, if they could accept him as he was, he could do no less for them. He'd originally set unrealistic goals for each of them, with the intention of failing them and sending them straight back to the academy, but they'd shocked him by not only meeting his goals but exceeding them. Now, he was almost certain all three would make chunin before the year was out.

While on paper Hizashi's original commentary on their abilities had been accurate, in reality he'd been far from the mark. It was true that Gekko Hayate was small and lacked body weight, but it was far from the disadvantage he had labeled it as. In fact, the boy's low body weight acted as a catalyst for his signature jutsu. Hayate's small mass combined with nearly perfect chakra manipulation allowed him to move more quickly and with more agility and grace than Hizashi had ever seen from someone his age, and his signature technique, the Dance of the Crescent Moon, was poetry in motion. Able to create multiple clones with minimal chakra wastage, he moved them around at high speed creating confusion in his enemy, which he then exploited by attacking from their blind spots. Hizashi found himself anxious to see his student unveil it at the chunin exam.

Uzuki Yugao on the other hand had very little chakra control. It was exactly like he said, her chakra spiked erratically and behaved inconsistently. Fortunately he'd found the girl to have abnormally large stores of it, regardless of how much chakra she wasted she always seemed to have more with which to practice. Long after both Hayate and Iruka would pass out from chakra exhaustion Yugao would be up and running through the drills. Her single minded focus and desire to get it right had endeared the purple haired kunoichi to him, perhaps even more so than the other two, and he'd taken to tutoring her separately to keep her from falling behind. Under his special instruction they had discovered her affinity for water based jutsu. Wild and without form the personalized water jutsu she created relied heavily on the fact that her chakra behaved inconsistently. The majority of her jutsu relied on large amounts of water coming from multiple directions at varying speeds with irregular force, all performing different functions. Her opponents would find the jutsu unpredictable, and often times were unable to determine what they should be protecting themselves from before it was too late.

Umino Iruka was Hizashi's biggest challenge. While he was repeatedly wowed by his student's physical prowess he continued to worry about his mental capacity for the kill. His most passive and gentle disciple, Iruka had yet to complete a jutsu designed specifically for killing. He knew a variety of jutsu to incapacitate his opponents; he could make them fall asleep, numb their bodies past the point of movement, catch them in genjutsu, and had even talked to enough medic nin's to learn how to sever a spinal cord for paralysis, but that was as far as it went. He knew not even one fatal jutsu, a fact that bothered Hizashi to no end. He had even suggested the boy reserve himself for catch and capture missions only, but Iruka had insisted he wanted to advance to ANBU along with the rest of his squad. The boy was a conundrum that Hizashi had no answer for.

Heading toward the forest gate Hizashi activated his byakugan. Kuso! There had to be 1000 enemy combatants about 5 miles in from the gate and a damn demon about 20 in. Concerned that this was beyond his team's ability Hizashi forced himself to shake it off, as far as he knew there was no one else available, so they would have to be enough.


	17. More Important Than Fear

Chapter 17 – More Important Than Fear

Tsume woke groggily to the sound of a whining nin-dog. Opening her eyes she saw Kuromaru at the foot of her bed staring at the messenger pigeon standing on her windowsill. Looking at the clock caused her to groan, why was she being harassed at such an uncivilized hour? The bird lacked the seal of the Hokage so she knew it was a personal message rather than an official summons, but that was what made it weird. It was not unheard of to receive a summons in the middle of the night, but to receive a personal note at such a ridiculous hour was highly unusual. Rising from her bed, her senses sharpening as she shook the sleep from her body, she finally noticed the feel of a dark chakra seeping through the air. Though it was faint, she could tell it was coming from a great distance away which indicated it was far from weak, and she promised herself she would make sure to investigate it in the morning.

Pulling the tiny scroll from the pigeon's leg, she began to unroll it and noticed the hastily written chicken scratch as Rikku's handwriting. Usually the girl's calligraphy was piss poor at best (she usually convinced Kotetsu to pen her teleportation scrolls, as her own penmanship was so atrocious they often wouldn't work if she did it on her own) but this was beyond bad, it was practically illegible. While trying to decode the message and figure out what in tarnation the damn thing said, her mind raced with possibilities for why it had been sent at all.

The fact that Rikku had written it meant that they were being secretive, she was the only one discreet enough to pull it off, otherwise one of the boys would have written it, thus it would have been legible. Incidentally it being written so shoddily, even for Rikku, suggested it had been written in a hurry, which definitely didn't bode well for the well being of her team, and led Tsume to conclude that her brats were in some kind of trouble. If only she could understand what the hell they had written down. Usually deciphering a code was time consuming enough, compounding that with the fact that the kanji looked worse than if Kiba had scribbled them down the time it took her to translate was lengthened considerably.

Approximately an hour after she'd first opened her student's scroll Tsume was still unsure of the exact message it contained, but had figured out enough of it to be very concerned. If she was correct, the gist of it was, "1000 samurai in Forest of Death, Izumo to save Anko, secret please." Even under the best circumstances the implications of it sent her reeling.

They couldn't be going into the Forest of Death, right? They weren't that stupid. Unless Izumo thought Anko was in there and needed saving? Sweet Kami! They were heading into the Forest of Death! 1000 samurai or not the consequences of such an excursion would be drastic. And "secret please?" They had to be kidding, there was no way with 1000 enemies inside the gates of Konoha she could even entertain the idea of keeping it a secret. Suiting up, Tsume quickly scribbled a note to the Hokage and sent the pigeon on its way. With Kuromaru at her side she took off toward the Forest of Death, which also seemed to be in the same direction as that ominous chakra, a fact that only served to spur her feet that much quicker.

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"Fuck!" Anko swore loudly as Amegakure's army of samurai surrounded them. Dropping Obito to the ground abruptly (there wasn't time to worry about his comfort , if she didn't win this fight he would be dead and it wouldn't matter that she'd thrown him in the dirt)she pulled her katana and wakizashi from their sheaths on her back.

"Form a protective circle around him!" she ordered only to notice Kakashi had passed out. Apparently the run had been too much strain on his already physically taxed body. Itachi had pushed him back toward Obito and now stood shakily in front of them clutching his own katana with a knuckle white grip.

Upon their arrival the samurai had originally been wary of them when the rag-tag bunch of ninja had burst into their camp. Now, however, Anko noticed they seemed very aware of the face that even though their opponents were ninja, they were in no shape to do battle. As if in response to her thought they glared menacingly and the ring of assailants began to constrict around her and Itachi as they closed in for what looked to be an easy slaughter.

"Don't come any closer and I won't kill you all," Anko snarled, hoping her false bravado would be taken seriously and perhaps intimidate those less inclined to fight a kunoichi. She knew, as most ninja knew, that most samurai, however well trained, wanted nothing to do with fighting a shinobi; in most cases it was a suicide mission. Unfortunately, today, with their vast numbers and her own very limited resources, it didn't look like that would be the case.

"Hahaha," a middle aged man baring a lightning bolt tattoo across his face cackled at her. "You're going to kill us all, huh? That's a good one doll face. You're giving me a good laugh. I have to say I'm surprised though. Is this all the great and mighty nation of Konoha could muster up? A scrawny little girl with a big mouth, two corpses, and a sniveling whelp? I have to say I'm not impressed, and here I thought we'd actually get to have a real fight."

"Sorry, but on such short notice we were all that was available. I'm sure that if you hadn't snuck in during the middle of the night like the simpering cowards you are, you would have gotten a much better reception," Anko spat; insulting their honor in hope that they would anger easily. An emotional opponent was not one that was ruled by logic or reason which would cause them to make mistakes, and hopefully they would be big mistakes. One couldn't hope to look beneath the underneath if they were charging blindly into battle, and Anko was hoping for just that. She was also hoping to buy some time while she tried to think of a plan to put under the underneath; so far she had nothing.

"Shut your mouth bitch," the tattooed mad snapped, rising to her bait. "You'll pay for that. We were just going to kill you, but just for that insult we're going to make sure to kill all your little friends here, while you watch. Then we'll all take turns having our fun with you before we slit your throat. How does that sound to you, huh?"

"Really? Is that what you think is going to happen?" she asked, and an evil grin crept across her face in a maniacal mocking of a smile. She laughed heartily throwing off the legion of samurai currently transfixed on her insane visage. Noticing the tattooed man unconsciously stepping back from her with a slightly nervous look on his ugly face she threw her head back and unleashed a mad cackle. More scared than she'd ever been in her life, there was no way in hell she was going to let that bastard see it, Konoha couldn't afford for her to have any weakness right now. She'd thought of a plan that might be able to stall the invaders long enough for their backup to arrive. Seeing the vast number of enemies around her she wished she'd sent Akasha to visit someone a little more formidable, but it was too late now. What's done is done, she thought as she activated the second level of the Ten no Juin, and put the first stage of her plan into action.

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Arriving at the Forest gate Hizashi looked at his team and then at the massive enemy encampment not far from where they stood, and grimaced. It was going to be too much; some of them were going to die, if not all four of them, and he just wasn't ready for that. He thought about ordering them to go home and as much as wanted to do so, he knew he couldn't. Knowing they were Konoha genin did little in the way of making him forget that they were just children. Children he had grown to care for almost as much as he did his own son. But facts were facts, children though they may be, they were genin, soldiers of the Leaf Village, and inside those gates stood defilers of Konoha. Even if all they managed to do was slow the charge of invaders into their home, they had to try. The Village Hidden in the Leaves would expect no less of its protectors.

Choosing his next words was more difficult then he'd thought it would be. These could very well be the last words he ever said to them, the last words he ever said to anyone for that matter, and though he hoped they wouldn't be, the odds were not in his favor. The three of them were staring at him intently. Iruka looked ready to vomit. Even without knowing about the samurai lurking behind the gate ready to stab and gut them, his students could feel the overwhelming evil of the Kyuubi's demon chakra, and his gentle hearted student wasn't taking it well. Yugao on the other hand looked blood thirsty, battle lust filled the young girls' usually placid grey eyes; her body taught and ready for battle with her muscles coiled tightly and ready to spring. Hayate he worried about least, the boy's features remained stony and blank, he face was unreadable and emotionless; exactly the way a shinobi should be.

"Listen up," Hizashi began in the no nonsense voice he'd used in ANBU, a tone his student's had thus far never heard before, but he needed to convey to them the seriousness of the situation. "When we get beyond this gate there will be no talking, you will rely solely on hand signals for communication, and none of you are to make a sound. If I hear so much as a leaf crackle underfoot you won't have to worry about the enemy killing you, because I'll do it myself. Inside that gate are 1000 hostile samurai, all strong, and all ready to disembowel you. On top of that, that angry chakra you're feeling, that belongs to a demon. There are no reinforcements on the way. The people you see around you right now are the only ones you're going to see, the only ones besides yourself that you can depend on to get you out of there alive. If we manage to take out the samurai without all of our deaths, those remaining alive are not done, ultimately the demon is the mission. We must protect Konoha at all cost. Now, look at me when I say this last part. Before we go in there I want you to know that I'm proud of you all. You're all strong and fine shinobi and I'm glad to have you on my team. That being said, once we get in there, I need you all to be perfect. There is no room for error or hesitation. Do not hold back or show mercy because none will be given to you. I don't want to be carving your names into a stone at the end of this. Do you understand?"

His team nodded somberly.

"Do you understand?" he repeated loudly, his gaze fixed firmly on Iruka.

"Hai sensei," they said clearly, and Hizashi noticed Iruka's breathes deepen as he attempted to calm his nerves.

"Alright then, I'll go over the attack formation and then we go in."

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Itachi held his katana in a vice-like grip, hanging onto it for dear life. His limbs ached with every motion and blood continued to seep from his numerous wounds. Watching the samurai close in on him and Anko it seemed he had been saved from one hell only to be thrown into another. He questioned Anko's goading of their enemy when they were so obviously disadvantaged and doomed, but then he supposed it wasn't in her nature to go down quietly and he took comfort in the fact that despite circumstance the brash kunoichi remained true to form. He really hoped she had a plan, any plan at all, because as fast as his mind was coming up with scenarios and courses of action, as far as he could tell every single one of them would end with their demise. The odds were so far out of their favor he couldn't think of any happy ending to their future.

"Really? Is that what you think is going to happen?" he heard Anko ask before gasps and whispers broke out among the samurai. Hazarding a glance behind him, he had to do a double take. Black spirals leapt across his ally's skin as she turned a blue-grey color and her dark hair faded to white. Equally disturbing, if not more so, a second pair of arms were ripping their way out of the flesh on her back while forming hand signals as they emerged, even as Anko screamed from the pain of their birth. Several of the samurai took steps back in fear of the monster she'd become, while the rest managed to stare in awe.

Hand seals completed, Anko muttered, "Soulbane," and then chaos erupted.

Unsure what he should do, Itachi watched as the samurai turned on one another and began cutting and shredding their comrades to pieces. Anko's maniacal laugh reached his ears and he turned to see the blue skinned devil jump into the horde of enemies slashing them apart. Her dual blades spun blindingly fast, cleaving effortlessly through the flesh and bones of their opponents, while her extra set of limbs continued forming hand seals and blasting their attackers with various jutsu. First a fireball exploded taking out two samurai in its blast radius, next an arch of lightning shot from her fingers catching a man in the shoulder sending shockwaves through his body, his hair lit on fire and he convulsed for several moments before falling down dead, and still her hands flashed more signs and more samurai fell.

Distracted by the ferocity displayed by his previously frail looking comrade, Itachi was paying little attention to what was going on around him.

"Look out!" Anko shouted, Itachi ducked as a rival samurai he had failed to see bore down on him barely missing his left shoulder in a wild swing.

Throwing his body to the ground he was barely able to dodge the sword coming swiftly at his head. Rolling to his knees he managed to parry his opponent's next attack while climbing to his feet. The samurai raced at him again swinging wildly and Itachi jumped out of the way. The man was fighting recklessly, completely underestimating the tiny Uchiha, and Itachi knew that if he hadn't been so injured he could have easily defeated him. Unfortunately, the snakes that had saved his life had also done a great deal of damage to his body and every motion he made sent waves of pain coursing through his entire being while his movements were getting more and more sluggish as time passed. He knew he had to finish the man off quickly before he succumbed to the pain and collapsed, but with each swing he evaded he got slower and weaker whilst his adversary's speed and strength only seemed to magnify.

The blows continued to rain down, coming quicker each time, and he could no longer elude them so he brought his katana up in an attempt to block them. Each hit he deflected jarred his already bleeding arms and weakened him even further, and with every failed swing his foe seemed to get angrier and more determined to destroy him. Noticing his fatigue, the samurai took the opportunity to press him harder and slashed at him again, only this time he was too slow to fend off the attack completely. Instead it glanced off his sword to cut deeply into his shoulder and knock him to his knees.

The enemy charged again and Itachi knew it was hopeless. The battle raged around him in an almost surreal manner. Time seemed to stop and he could hear the clang of metal on metal, as well as the gasps of the dying, but all he could focus on was the sword arching toward his face to end his life, and he hoped someone else would be able to take care of his otouto for him. Then came a moment of clarity, he could see the man coming and he calmed himself to concentrate and dodge the blow, why was the man moving so slowly? Itachi blinked and his world changed. It was like the man was moving in slow motion, with moves as leaden as that there was no reason Itachi couldn't defeat him. Why had he given up? Side stepping to the samurai's right, he moved around to the man's back and slammed his katana into his torso and out through his ribcage. Jerking his sword out sent the man sprawling to the ground dead.

Still aching and about to collapse, Itachi looked at the battle through new eyes. Dark purple chakra swirled and arched through the air surrounding Anko as she whirled from one enemy to the next, seemingly invincible. The same dark chakra clung to the eyes of the enemy too he noticed. No, that was wrong he noted, it wasn't just the eyes, the chakra was completely surrounding their whole heads. Anko must have used some kind of genjutsu on them, which would explain why the enemy was attacking each other.

Itachi watched as Anko cut down yet another foe, but the tide seemed endless and as remarkably as she was performing she was only one person, and he could tell she was tiring. He wanted to help her, and he tried to move to do so but his feet refused to move. Instead he stumbled forward, falling down exhausted onto Obito and Kakashi before everything went black.

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A sharp yank pulled her wakizashi from the back of a man's head, an action from which she used the momentum of to swing the katana in her opposite hand to slice another across the chest. Having witnessed Itachi's collapse onto the pile of their comrades Anko had done her best to draw the bulk of attention onto herself. Using a series of flashy moves to distract their opponents she was able to cast a weak genjutsu to shield the injured leaf shinobi. With her nakama hidden from danger she could now focus fully on the battle at hand.

With the power of the Heaven seal coursing through her veins she had yet to feel the fatigue she knew would be coming; instead she felt incredible despite the cuts, bruises, and scrapes now littering her body. She knew however, that as high as she was right now the crash would be all that much worse; when the low hit it would be devastating. Alone in the field with no medic, she doubted she would even survive it, but that was not one of her concerns. She had already accepted the fact that this battle would probably be her last and her only goal at this point was to last until the cavalry arrived to bring her boys home breathing.

Bringing her katana around in a high arc she severed the skull off an incoming samurai while her extra appendages were finishing a final hand seal.

"Katon Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)," she shouted before spewing a gigantic ball of fire from her lips. As it incinerated all the attackers in its path Anko used the inhuman strength she temporarily possessed to launch a back flip that landed her on the shoulders of the tattooed bastard who'd threatened her earlier. And while she really wanted to supply a witty quip before she snapped his neck with her thighs, she instead chose speed over clever banter. Breaking his neck before he said a word, she grabbed a low lying tree limb and swung up to the relative safety of the branches before his body hit the ground.

From her precarious perch she surveyed the battlefield, noticing that she had indeed managed to do quite a bit of damage to Amegakure's battalion. In the short amount of time they'd been fighting she herself had managed to take out 52 of the scummy bastards, and with Itachi's kill the score so far was Konoha: 53 Amegakure:0, not counting the companions they had killed themselves.

Anko always kept track of her kills. Orochimaru had demanded it; he'd said you should always know how many men had been unable to defeat you so you would know your own worth to the village. After every skirmish he'd ask, "So Anko how many useless nobodies were powerless to stop the blade of the Snake Sannin's blade?" Originally she hadn't wanted to take account of them, but with Orochimaru's not so subtle prodding she had done it anyway, and now even with him gone the habit was so ingrained in her psyche she might as well have been born doing it. In the beginning she believed it might have been to prove how good she was to her sensei, but now that she'd thought about it, it was likely more to boost his own ego. If he could say he trained the best genin in all of Konohagakure, it was more his accomplishment than hers. Now she kept track out of respect for the fallen; remembering each and every person she killed was her penance. She knew it was a little morbid, but she wasn't the only one to do it, and ninja all dealt with death and guilt in their own way; nobody would question her for it.

Below her the enemy combatants continued going to town on their own companions, and Anko mumbled a thanks to her former sensei. Forbidden as it was, the Soulbane kinjutsu was the only reason she was still standing and able to protect her precious people. The genjutsu targeted the mind, causing the victim to see their friends as foes, turning even the best of friends against one another was child's play with the use of the Soulbane. According to Orochimaru she was the only one in Konoha to know how to use it and she prayed he was correct because if she managed to live and anyone recognized it for what it was, she could very well find herself locked in a cell with no chance of redemption. The use of a forbidden technique was considered a very serious crime. At the moment though she really didn't care, she'd had no other option, and the safety of her team was paramount to anything else. She'd never used the jutsu on such a large group before and she didn't know how long she had before it wore off. Otherwise she would have just sat there and watched as the problem took care of itself. As it was, the enemy had managed to eliminate about half of its size all on its own.

Anko leapt from tree to tree, sticking to the treetops to avoid attacks, and observing the enemies movement below. Noticing that the further she got from the jutsu's point of origin the more lucent her opponents were becoming she knew it was time to put the second part of her plan into action. Heading back to where her own compatriots lay hidden, she kept her eyes open for any incapacitated but still breathing adversaries. By the time she returned she'd found four. Carrying one in each arm had been easy enough and she had actually hoped to find eight; thinking the more she had the better. She thought about knocking four more out on her own but decided that with her first jutsu already wearing off she didn't have enough time. Four would have to be enough.

Casting a minor genjutsu that would make anyone looking her way ignore what she was doing, she picked her own friends up along with the samurai and carried them all to the base of a large tree where she quickly drew some symbols in the soft clay lining the forest floor. She then piled up the bodies of Konoha's invaders one on top of the other until it was four people tall with all four of their heads aligned. Needing an unbroken circle to complete the jutsu Anko apologized to her friends as she laid them out in a circle around her stack of bodies, intertwining their hands with one another. As she moved to take her seat at the head of the circle the captive on the top of the pile let out a low groan and began to stir. Using the hilt of her sword she deftly smashed him on the top of his head; quickly sending him back to his slumber.

Though fairly specific, this jutsu would be completed quickly and for that, Anko was glad. The extended use of such a large amount of chakra was taking its toll on her and she was beginning to tire. Taking a last look at her friends, she smiled wistfully. They had all become special to her, even the silent Itachi had managed to grow on her, and she wished she'd had more time with them. She'd never had real friends and she was sad she'd have to leave them. Even if the recession of the Ten no Juin didn't kill her, she doubted very much that any of them would talk to her after this anyway. That was if she'd even be allowed to talk to anyone after this at all. While there was probably nobody who would recognize the Soulbane, she would be hard pressed indeed to find someone who wouldn't know of this next jutsu, and she was positive her friends wouldn't like the fact that she'd used their bodies to aid in its completion. Oh well, she thought, Konoha was more important than anything and she'd taken an oath to protect it. This was the only way she knew how.

Anko began chanting the words to the ancient kinjutsu. Utilizing her katana one last time, she nicked the palm of her hand and held it out over the enemy samurai letting her blood drip down onto each of the four bodies; marking them as her sacrifice to the Death god. While taking Kakashi's right hand and Obito's left into her own she continued her chanting. Using her own chakra she pushed a ribbon of it through Obito's left hand and out his right, into Itachi's left. Continuing the process with both Itachi and Kakashi, she was surprised to discover as it reached her own left hand that traces of chakra from all three could be found in the ribbon. Knowing the extra chakra would only add to the potency of her jutsu she smiled (it seemed her friends were still with her to the end) as she sent the ribbon rushing into the bodies in front of her. When it had entered in its entirety she unsheathed her katana. Spinning around wildly with a guttural scream of "Shisa Kugutsu," she slammed it down forcefully on the throat of the first samurai. Using all the strength she possessed, which was quite a formidable amount with the Ten no Juin activated, she muscled her way through the swing to slice through all four necks almost effortlessly. Thankfully none of the intruders had woken during the ritual, and now they never would; all four of their heads were now rolling at her feet.

Practically exhausted Anko sunk to her knees breathing heavily. She looked around expectantly but saw nothing had happened. She choked back a sob at the thought of her failure. She could hear the angry shouts of her enemy as they came closer, alerting her that her original jutsu had worn off and reminding her that there was nothing else she could do. She and her friends would all be killed here because of her failure and she was too weak to even try moving them again. With an exasperated sigh, she sat back on her haunches and closed her eyes in an attempt to quell the flood of tears threatening to spill across her face. Opening them again at the sound of a deep laughter she almost jumped for joy at the sight of the four samurai heads tinged blue with chakra floating in a circle around the central visage of a Death god.

"Your sacrifice has been found acceptable Mitarashi Anko," it cackled, and Anko thought she had never heard such a beautiful sound.

"Arigato, Shinigami-sama," Anko replied with a deep bow.

Suddenly a blue fire made completely of chakra flared up on the bodies of the dead samurai; illuminating the small clearing almost as bright as day. Then just as quickly as it came, it went out, leaving just Anko, Itachi, Kakashi, and Obito alone at the base of the tree. The Death god, the samurai bodies, and even their heads had all disappeared. From outside their small circle Anko heard the terrified screams of their attackers as the final stage of her plan went into action. Finally sure her nakama would be safe, she let the cursed seal of heaven recede. Pain rocked her body and she screamed violently as her bones shrunk and extra arms were absorbed back into her flesh. Fortunately the bone-weary kunoichi collapsed from fatigue before the transformation was complete.


	18. A Forest of Graves

A/N: This chapter has not been beta'd because the wonderful Kaori is on vacation and I wanted to get it up anyway. Please forgive me any of my spelling mistakes or poor language usag.

Chapter 18 – A Forest of Graves

A slight vibration of the air was the only thing heralding the arrival of Team Kick Ass (the name chosen by Rikku when she'd won the honor by being the first member of their cell to actually get kissed by a member of the opposite gender, a feat Kotetsu had really been sure he was going to accomplish first) into the almost pitch black dark of the Forest of Death. Izumo stretched his long limbs and did his best not to vomit all over the thick vegetation at his feet. While traveling through the use of seals was quicker and more chakra conservative then Rikku's normal transportation jutsu, it had some drawbacks of its own; namely the ridiculous speed at which the body was propelled through the portals could severely disorient the traveler. This was especially true if it was someone who suffered from motion sickness, and Izumo could often be found cursing his weak stomach after missions which incorporated numerous uses of the seals.

Slapping his slightly incapacitated teammate on the back forcefully, Kotetsu began to mock the unfortunate ninja. "Awww, did wittle Zumo-kun get sick again? Are you gonna frow up this time? Hey Rikku! Does anyone else have this problem, or just our wittle buddy?"

"Like I tell you every time you ask me, some people just never get used to it. I guess our wittle Zumo-kun is one of them. It'll wear off soon enough," Rikku teased back.

"Did you hear that Zumo-kun? You'll be all better soon and hopefully we won't have to tell Anko we were late saving her because you ate too much ice cream for dessert."

"Shut the fuck up you asshole!" Izumo growled. "And keep your voice down, there's 1000 samurai out here somewhere and we have no idea where or how far away they are."

Realizing their foolishness could have gotten them all killed, Kotetsu and Rikku both immediately stopped their laughter and joking. Weapons appeared in their hands and the jolly mirth in their eyes just moments before disappeared, replaced with the grim cold countenance of shinobi. Izumo hated when they did that, and it was actually happening more and more frequently since they'd been getting more C-ranked missions instead of the usual D-ranked excursions of genin, a sure sign that the hokage thought it was time they took the chunin exam. One minute they were the same flippant and happy teammates he'd grown up with, pranking people and telling jokes; the next they were stern, joyless, and distant, wearing the determined poker faces of the killers they were trained to be. What bothered Izumo the most about it was the light switch-like ease with which they changed. Turning one's personality off as you would a television or a table lamp could not be natural or healthy, and he often worried for the psyches of his childhood companions. But not right now, he couldn't afford the luxury of worry right now. Right now he was grateful for the "on" and "off" buttons they'd perfected. Tonight he needed them to be the hunters and exterminators he knew they could be. Anko's life might depend on it.

Silence once again reined over the forest as Team Kick Ass fanned out in search of the enemy combatants, but it was short lived. Just minutes after their separation the boys were interrupted by their wireless communicators.

"Guys, converge on my location, 35 degrees north and 46 degrees east of our entry point, and do it quickly. We may have a golden opportunity boys," Rikku's voice crackled over the transmitter.

Kotetsu was the first to arrive and find his female teammate leaping between trees to string metal thread through all the open spaces. Izumo turned up moments later and sees his partners have laid countless traps in the forest below them and are now exchanging smug expressions because there is nothing left for him to do, and later they'll be able to tease him about his "uselessness." In the distance he can hear the cries of men as they scream out in fear and in his heart he knows that has something to do with Anko, his warrior woman.

Rikku breaks the silence to explain her plan and how she came to it, because she can never leave anything to chance, and likes the confirmation that she hasn't overlooked anything. Upon contemplation Izumo realizes this is a good thing, they've corrected many a plan in such a fashion and it helps them to build teamwork.

"I was scouting up ahead about two miles when I came across them. They're running wildly away from something but I didn't get a chance to see what it was. I rushed back to secure this location and prepare the traps. Whatever is coming for them has them terrified. They're running blindly, screaming; no attempts at stealth even, just tearing through the forest on a dead run," she explained.

"If they're running so wildly how can you be sure that they'll come this way?" Izumo broke in.

"Because," she smirked. "They won't see anywhere else to go. I laid a simple genjutsu that makes the way here look like a straight trail with extremely dense foliage on the sides. Since they're goal is speed they won't want to leave the well worn path."

"That's our girl," Kotetsu lauded, bestowing her with a quick fist bump.

"Starting a half a mile from that opening in the trees I've placed exploding tags on both sides of the trail. When the fastest cowards reach here the entire stretch should be filled with the enemy. I'll blow the tags and most of them should be taken out in the blast. Those that make it through will most likely be those closest to whatever it is that's chasing them, and should be coming at a good speed," she continued.

"This is when it gets good," Kotetsu commented and Rikku nodded.

"They'll run right into the metal thread you've been stringing up," Izumo took it to the logical conclusion. "There will be a bottle neck at the wire as the ones in the back try to get away from their aggressor and push the ones in front right up to the wire. Good job Rikku."

"You've forgotten all about me Zumo-kun," Kotetsu feigned distress.

"Gomen, what did you do Tetsu?"

"I guess you're just gonna have to find out, aren't ya? He answered before leaping from the common branch they shared to one several feet away. From the sound of things the samurai would be bursting through the trees at any minute and Team Kick Ass assumed their attack formation.

The first enemy came stumbling across the tree line into the clearing and Izumo held his breath in anticipation of the explosion to come. Only it didn't come and he looked over to see that Rikku remained completely still, her eyes fixed on the trail. Then two more staggered out, followed by another three and Rikku's lips pulled up in a wicked sneer. BOOM!

Trees, dirt, and body parts filled the sky as the blast took out at least 100 of Ame's soldiers. The first man through the tree line afterward and the only visible survivor ran through the trees then suddenly fell down dead, a kunai sticking out of his forehead. Izumo and Rikku turned to the left simultaneously to see Kotetsu shrug noncommittally. _I didn't want him to tear up the wire and ruin the plan _he said using the silent ninja hand code.

Crouched on branches high up in the trees, Tsume's team was invisible to anyone below them and they waited patiently for the rest of Amegakure's forces to spill out. It was soon obvious that almost all of the samurai in that half mile stretch had been taken care of by the explosions because it was a fairly long wait before they saw anyone else. When another of their opponents finally staggered out of the tree line into their vision, he too quickly fell dead at the end of Kotetsu's kunai. _What?_ He flashed in hand talk. _I was getting bored._

Rikku rolled her eyes toward Izumo who just smirked; Kotetsu would never change and that was something for them to be grateful for. Shouts of fear became audible as the samurai got closer to their ambush. Lying in wait, Rikku, Izumo, and Kotetsu tensed at the sound and their hands dropped to weapons, as their eagle eyes converged on the opening in the trees, and all their senses tuned in for battle; Team Kick Ass was ready to do so.

Kotetsu choked back a laugh as Ame's battle hardened warriors poured into the clearing in a bumbling, disorganized mess. He knew it was in bad taste to laugh at a soldier's misfortune, even if they were on opposite sides, it could just as easily be him in the same predicament. However, this display of cowardice from supposedly well trained combatants was ludicrous. In his humble opinion these Ame bastards were a bunch of chicken-livered deserters, and if this was the best Rain country had to offer he wept for their people (not too hard though, they had attacked Konoha after all). To turn and run wildly in battle was a disgrace to your village as far as he was concerned. Konoha's soldiers would never do such a thing. An organized retreat was one thing, sometimes it was best to cut your losses, but this chaotic mass of idiots running every which way was unacceptable for a fighting unit. If this was what Amegakure sent out into the field then he couldn't help that they would all find quick deaths; with this level of incompetence it was inevitable.

More and more of the enemy spilled from the trees and as Rikku predicted they pushed those into the front closer and closer to the dangerous metal thread. Still running at top speed, the first rush of samurai met their deaths as they crashed into the flesh slicing wires. Their pained screams filled the air and Izumo cringed inwardly when he noticed it had no effect on his teammates. The samurai directly behind the now dead front line attempted to slow their charge and stop to save themselves from the same fate, but the rear charge had no idea what was going on and didn't slow their run. Thus the second wave was thrust into the deadly wire by the help of their own comrades. Before more of them could be cut to shreds by the wire, one of the men managed to cut open a section of it, allowing those still coming from behind to overflow past the steel of the first obstacle, much like water escaping from a dam. Unfortunately for them, Rikku had set up more than one stage of the traps, and soon they were pushing up on the second set.

More than 100 samurai fell in the surge from the trees through wire alone (proving without a doubt their uselessness to Kotetsu) and Rikku looked smug sitting in the tree a few down from Izumo. Now though her razor wire traps were at an end and soon they would have to actually enter the fray. _Soon, but not quite yet, _Kotetsu flashed to them. Finally past the invisible yet wicked metal threading the samurai let loose a loud war whoop as they charged through the trees. Kotetsu grinned slyly as they ran head first into his own traps.

Throughout the forest below numerous enemies tripped and fell to the ground, followed by the soft whistle of numerous projectiles and then the drop of bodies. Low lying trip wires saturated the forest beneath the Konoha ninja, and every time someone stumbled upon one it let loose a barrage of poison senbon. Even if the missiles didn't strike a vital organ, the toxin it carried into the body would do the job. Kotetsu winked at Izumo. _Nice touch, right? _He signed.

With all their traps sprung Tsume's team was about to jump into the fight when their enemy's assailants entered the scene. Rikku gasped, Kotetsu gaped, and Izumo tried not to lose his dessert for the second time that night. Hot on the heels of the fleeing samurai were more Ame samurai, only these samurai walked with wooden steps, stared with vacant eyes, and often dragged their entrails behind them. Though none of them had seen it before, it was forbidden after all, there was no doubt in their minds that what they were witnessing was Shisa Kugutsu, the Casualty Puppet technique. Ame's fallen samurai had been raised; reanimated by the chakra of a death god to do the bidding of their ninja master. The technique was forbidden as it called for a human sacrifice and Izumo paled knowing there was only one shinobi out there to whom it could have possibly been taught.

Jerked from his thoughts by the jarring of his tree branch, Izumo never finished that particular train of thought because his teammates were now whispering among themselves. This new development needed to be taken into consideration, and Izumo forced himself to listen.

"From what I've heard, these puppets won't stop until they finish their mission," Kotetsu confided.

"I know they're gross and all but this is great news," Rikku added. "They won't stop and they pretty much can't be killed. Plus, if they are who cares? It's not like they're Konoha soldiers."

"True,' Izumo confessed. "But we don't know if they're friendly. Can we fight alongside them or will they turn on us as well?"

"Good question. I guess there's only one way to find out," Kotetsu said before dropping to the forest floor right next to one of Anko's puppets. When the reanimated body lunged around him to take a samurai sword to the gut in Kotetsu's stead he called up, "They're on our side, come on down."

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Byakugan blazing fiercely Hizashi bore witness to the illegal actions of Mitarashi Anko from little more than a mile away; yet still too far to prevent it from happening. He'd been more than a little surprised to see anyone in the Forest at all, though he was glad for the help, he couldn't figure out why she was there at all, and with the little Uchiha boy no less. At first he'd wanted to look away; sure that the enemy samurai would cut her down and move on to her motionless comrades, but then he'd realized what she was about to do and his emotions were torn.

On one hand, once the jutsu was complete Konoha would have a great advantage and he and his student's chances for survival would increase tenfold. Against such insurmountable odds the girls' jutsu was practically heaven sent. But on the other hand, it was a forbidden technique. She was sacrificing humans to do it, something that went against Konoha's core system of beliefs. Yet she was doing it for the preservation of the Leaf Village and using Konoha's enemies for the sacrifice could hardly be counted against her could it? They would have died anyway if Konoha was victorious. So how could he find fault with her? If he himself knew the jutsu could he honestly say he wouldn't use it in defense of his home and precious people? Looking at his team and thinking of Neji, his own son, he decided he could not on either account, and he knew that if questioned later he would do what was in his power to protect the young kunoichi, she was after all doing the best she could to protect the people of Konoha.

As Anko finished piling up the bodies, three more chakra signatures flickered into his vision. Noting the familiar feel of a transportation jutsu, as well as the genin designation on their dog tags, he recognized the female ninja as one belonging to Inuzuka Tsume's squad. Talk around the water cooler said the girl was better with transportation then even upper level shinobi and great things were expected from her at the coming chunin exam. Not that Hizashi listened to such gossip, he'd just happened to be eating his lunch in the break room when a few ANBU had gotten back from detaining her and her squad after they'd been caught installing transport seals in the Hokage Tower basement. The girls' presence identified the group as Tsume's genin cell but that in itself gave him no explanation as to what they were doing out there, or where there sensei was.

Hizashi's team continued its current course as he monitored what was going on around them. Observing Anko's collapse at the conclusion of her jutsu and Tsume's team's expert ambush setup the Hyuga made a decision. Flashing signals to his team he let them know his new plan. They would go around the enemy, letting Tsume's genin take care of the charge. His own team would circle around back to where Anko, Kakashi, and the two Uchiha troublemakers lay unconscious. Hayate, Yugao, and Hizashi himself would engage the enemy from the rear, eliminating any samurai who had managed to evade the puppets, providing protection to the chakra exhausted shinobi. Iruka was charged with getting them out of the Forest. The diminutive Umino had balked at the idea of not being in the fight alongside his teammates, but with the boys' squeamishness Hizashi thought a rescue mission more appropriate for him. Iruka steamed silently until Hayate signed, _Don't you want to save your girlfriend's teammates? Rin would think that was more important._ After that his entire attitude changed and Hizashi could honestly say Iruka had never been more focused. Amazed at the reaction his student gave at the mention of this Rin, Hizashi decided he would have to meet her.

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Fighting alongside Anko's puppets made combat much easier, Izumo might even go as far as to say it was a leisurely fought battle, if there was such a thing. While the puppets were not nearly as quick or nimble as the ninja, or even the samurai for that matter, they made up for it in sheer relentless pursuit and dogged dedication to the protection of the leaf ninja. Wherever they were in the fight, Izumo, Kotetsu, and Rikku could all count on the fact that at least one of the puppets was nearby, and whenever it even seemed possible that an enemy weapon might hit them, a doll threw itself in the way.

To Izumo's way of thinking this was the best way to do battle. Having nameless accomplices throwing themselves up as your shield, rather than worrying a close friend might take a hit for you took a lot of pressure off and he thanked Anko for the help. He hoped wherever she was they were doing the same thing for her. As it was he figured it was only a matter of time before he could go find his sweetheart. The mission had basically developed into a roundup and slaughter of the remaining enemies, and with every foe that fell a new ally rose in its place. The biggest obstacle they faced at the moment was the fleeing combatants. They were wasting a lot of time hunting down the assailants that attempted to run away.

"Magen Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion False Surroundings Technique)!" Kotetsu must have been having the same thought.

Having no training to protect against genjutsu the samurai were extremely susceptible to it, and Kotetsu had taken full advantage of it. The escaping invaders could now only see a towering brick wall surrounding the area they occupied instead of the vast expanse of empty forest that existed. Thinking themselves trapped the men of Amegakure turned to face their captors. For this, Izumo was grateful; while he didn't mind stabbing an enemy through the back as he ran away (he is after all a ninja and sneaky is their way), he would prefer to fight an opponent head on. Even if said opponent stands no shot in hell of winning he just feels it's more sportsmanlike. With the problem of chasing down the intruders eliminated Izumo's new concern was that he might run out of chakra before Konoha's bug infestation could be completely exterminated. Looking in his pouch for a soldier pill to keep his energy up he decided he had an even better idea for conserving steam, which was to use as little of it as possible.

"Kotetsu!" he called to his teammate. "We need to immobilize them, then Rikku can take them out."

Kotetsu's giant grin lit up his face as he quickly nodded in understanding. His excitement was palpable; he'd always been a big fan of demonstrating their teams' cooperative maneuvers in the field and it was his own insistence that they created this formation. Being a big fan of the Ino-Shika-Cho configuration Kotetsu frequently demanded they practice their own so that the Hage-Kami-Tay composition would one day be just as recognizable. Izumo and Rikku have always bitched about it, complaining that their individual skills were more important, after all, once they're chunin they may get put together rarely, but today the pair of them is grateful that they've spent so much time on it.

"Kanashibari no Jutsu (Temporary Body Paralysis)" comes from Kotetsu.

"Suiton: Mizuame Nabara (Water Release Syrup Capture Field)!" Izumo shouts concurrently with his teammate.

The samurai standing within a ten foot radius of Kotetsu fall down stiff as boards, shock filing their eyes as his jutsu immobilizes them with temporary paralysis. Not that they'll live long enough to know its temporary. Those standing closer to Izumo find themselves sinking into a soft sticky substance; the very ground beneath their feet has betrayed them and the syrup encasing their feet only incapacitates them further by sucking them in deeper if they struggle. Kotetsu quickly claps three times in succession to signal the Tay part of their formation, and now it's time for Rikku's contribution.

From across the clearing she comes running, picking up speed as she goes. She continues her run up the side of a tall tree and out onto a thick tree limb high above the ground. Fully using all the speed she's acquired Rikku's body launches into the night sky. Her blond hair blows back in the wind as she spins through the air and Kotetsu can't get it out of his mind that she looks almost like an angel.

"Fukumi Hari (Hidden Needles Attack)," she calls out, and thousands of senbon fill the air, transported from some secret location where Rikku stores more weapons than either of her teammates would know what to do with. They hang silently in the air for a moment, then as Rikku's body flips end over end they plummet down with deadly accuracy; piercing either the enemy's lungs and cutting of their oxygen supply, or their soft eyes, diving straight into delicate brain tissue. She rarely misses, but Izumo thinks that's due more to the ridiculous number of senbon called forth than her aim, which has always been good but not amazing, and although they search the downed samurai for survivors they find only three of the trapped men alive. If they perform the Hage-Kami-Tay formation just three more times they should then only have clean up to do, and Izumo finds himself smiling now that there is an end in sight.

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Watching as Hayate, Yugao, and Hizashi-sensei take up protective positions around Rin's unconscious teammates Iruka steels himself for the task at hand. While he'd originally been angry that Hizashi-sensei was taking him out of the fight, seeing it as a sign that his teacher thinks he is weak, he now realizes his task is actually the most important one. Sure the four of them could have remained in the fight and helped the other team fend of Konoha's invaders, but then they would most certainly lose at least one, if not more, of their exhausted companions. Hidden Leaf Village nindo states that you do not leave comrades behind unless it will compromise the mission, and he didn't intend to. Especially since he knew Rin considered these people her family.

Looking at the collapsed forms of Rin's teammates and their new friends Iruka began determining the best strategy for getting them all out alive. Though suffering the most severely from chakra depletion, Obito and Kakashi are both in better condition than Itachi and Anko. All four seem to be suffering from the condition, but the smaller Uchiha has the least severe case of it. However, this point is made moot by the fact that the boys' body is probably the most heavily damaged. Physically he had been decimated, large puncture wounds in both his arms and legs had lost him a lot of blood, and in fact they continue to do so; Iruka doubts he will live much longer if he doesn't get to a hospital soon. Unfortunately, Anko appears to have even less time. Her skin is pale and bruised in several places; she is bleeding from several small wounds, as well as from one large gash in her left shoulder where it looks like she's taken a hit from a very large axe. More importantly her small body is racked with convulsions and spit seems to be foaming out of her mouth. Kakashi and Obito could be moved last, and he decides he has to move Anko first and hope he gets back in time for the little Uchiha. Hoisting her up on his back he notices how light she is, if she weighs even 100 pounds he'd be surprised. But with this new information he decides he can press his luck and move both her and Itachi at the same time. Its going to slow him down somewhat to carry two people, but Itachi's chance of survival increases tenfold if he drags him out of there now. So reinforcing his muscles with chakra Iruka takes off through the forest with Anko slung over one shoulder and Itachi on the other.

Exiting the protective barrier his teammates have provided, Iruka moves hesitantly through the forest; wary of any stray samurai that might attack him. With both ninja on his back it will be difficult for him to access any of his weapons. However he encounters no enemies and his confidence increases with each step, spurring him on faster through the woods. He wishes he could travel through the treetops, because weaving in and out of the large trees makes it difficult to pick up any real speed, but it's too dangerous for him to do so carrying his current load. His balance could be off slightly and he can't afford that when he's high up in the air where he could drop his comrades to their deaths. So onward he marches on the forest floor, moving closer and closer to the exit where he'll finally be on even ground and able to shift it into overdrive.

Seeing the gate up ahead Iruka's excitement soars and he races recklessly fast toward the metal construct. In his haste to save the Leaf comrades in his arms he tunes out everything around him and focuses solely on the exit in front of him. Tunnel vision working in full effect he is completely disoriented when a 200 pound body slams into him from the right. His own body crashes into a broad maple, while Itachi's limp form hits the ground rolling, leaving his face bloodied and dirty, and Anko is knocked from his grasp to lie at the feet of his attackers. Iruka notices there are three of them, the one that had tackled him is climbing to his feet, another smaller man with greedy eyes and a black handle-bar mustache is starting to move toward Anko, and a tall bald man is standing further in the back with a crossbow aimed at his skull.

Shit, he'd really messed this one up. Sure he has enough chakra to take these guys on and win, and he is secure in his belief that his skills are such that he can evade the crossbow shot, but Anko and Itachi can not. Totally exhausted, the two of them are completely helpless to defend themselves further. It had been Iruka's job to keep them safe, a mission he has failed completely. Scowling, Iruka stands slowly making all of his movements very obvious and deliberate so as not to spook his assailants into attacking.

"Put your hands over your head!" Handle-bar mustache man barks at him.

"What do you want?" Iruka asks as he raises his hands in submission.

"Shut your mouth and move over there!" the man snaps at him while pointing toward the large maple tree he'd just had his body smashed into.

Moving toward the tree Iruka speaks; "Do you have a plan? I can help get you out of here."

"I thought I told you to shut up! The three of you are our ticket out of here; we're going to trade you for our freedom."

"That's not going to happen," Iruka responds, shaking his head. "You attacked Konoha openly; they will kill you on sight, especially if you're holding captives."

"They won't do shit to us when we've got three of their own. We know Konoha's a bunch of bleeding heart bastards. They won't take any chances while we have your lives in our hands," the man who'd tackled him argued.

"You're wrong, it's not going to work," Iruka begins to explain, completely flummoxed by the opinions outsiders have of Konoha and its shinobi, sure the Hidden Leaf Village ninja are known for having more compassion than other villages but they are also known as the strongest nation . So why do so many foreign ninja think they're a bunch of morons who'll just bend over and be sodomized?. "They won't negotiate with you and if you even tr—"

Smash! A fist collides with the young shinobi's face, and he can tell his nose is definitely broken.

"Shut your mouth, you no good lying piece of shit!" The tall bald man yells while shaking Iruka's blood from his hand.

Slumpeing against the tree now, Iruka tries in vain to think of a way out of the mess he's in. Taking stock of his surroundings, he notes the exit gate is still in sight, so anyone coming in should see them. He has been stripped of most of his weapons, though they've missed two senbon he has in the seam of the zipper in his pants, even though Yugao told him that's a good way to get a new whole in his penis (Iruka thinks she just likes to try and shock him with her crudeness and isn't actually worried that something could happen) and a kunai that's tucked into his boot. Unfortunately with his hands tied behind his back the way they are, he can't reach any of them, and he gives the otherwise idiotic samurai credit for at least knowing how to tie a shinobi up. Other than the bruise forming on his back where he'd hit the tree and the broken nose he's recently received, he's mostly uninjured and once he finds a way out of these ropes he'll easily be able to take these guys. He's been left breathing loudly through his mouth, as when he breathes through his nose he gets a mouth full of blood for the trouble, but Iruka can still manage to hear the labored breathing of Itachi and the barely there gasps coming from the collapsed and twitching Mitarashi and despair for their plight fills his entire being. They need to get out of there now if there's going to be any hope for either of them to survive.

A/N: Please leave a review, I would love to hear from you!


	19. Choices That Define Us

Chapter 19 – Choices That Define Us

It wasn't that he couldn't tell something was amiss, in fact, Minato could sense that something was terribly and horribly wrong, it was just that at this particular moment he didn't want to think about it. He could feel the constant nagging in the back of his mind that kept reminding him that now he was the Hokage and that the village was first and foremost, the most important thing in his life. However, looking at his sleeping wife and cradling his precious newborn son in his arms reminded him that not too long ago, before he was the Hokage, he had been just a man, and first and foremost his family had been the most important thing in his life, and if he was being honest with himself, which he wasn't, it still was, even if it wasn't supposed to be. This left him with a moral dilemma to which he had no answer, which was why it was past 4:00 in the morning and instead of climbing into bed with his wife and son, or suiting up to head out and save Konoha, he was instead pacing the length of his bedroom, staring off into the night sky. Torn between his duty to the village and his love for his family, Minato couldn't make up his mind, and it was tearing away at him. Then the decision was made for him.

A messenger pigeon flew in through his open window landing on a silver rattle perched precariously on his nightstand. Elaborately covered with an intricately molded design, it was a beautiful piece, and a gift from Hyuga Makoto that Minato was positive was very expensive. However, it was his own opinion that Naruto might put it in his mouth, as he'd heard babies were prone to do, and silver shouldn't be in his baby's mouth. He'd polished enough of the stuff in his genin days and seen enough of the dirty rags left behind to know silver was not clean, and no matter what Kushina said, or how often she said it, Minato was throwing that rattle out before it ever got near his son's mouth. Luckily he'd now been given an even better reason to do so. There was no possible way his son was keeping a rattle touched by a disease infested carrier pigeon. Speaking of said pigeon, Minato placed Naruto in his basinet and took a look at the hastily written message.

"_1000 SAMURAI IN FOREST OF DEATH. MOVING TO INTERCEPT. – Tsume"_

In seconds Minato, the family man, was gone and in his stead remained Konoha's Yellow Flash, Hokage-sama, leader of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Using the incredible speed he was famous for he flashed down to the mission desk managing to scare the crap out of the dozing teenager on duty. So startled was she that she fell out of her chair and then stared up at him blinking owlishly, still not believing it was her hokage standing before her at such an ungodly hour.

"Hokage-sama?" she asked sheepishly.

"Hai, Tsubaki-san," he answered sternly but without malice. "There is trouble in the Forest of Death. Make the call to mobilize units 59 and 78 for battle. And have Hyuga Hiashi, Kewano Teruo, and Nara Shikaku organize teams to back me up, immediately. Understood?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Tsubaki saluted and set to work assembling the troops. Not that Minato saw any of it, as he flashed his way over to the point of invasion he hoped Tsume hadn't gotten herself into too much trouble as of yet.

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Practically at the gate Tsume and Kuromaru had never made such good time. It seemed fear for her students well being was much more motivation then she'd ever thought it would be. Once again she was blown away by the impact her team had made on her life and by how much she actually cared about them. General consensus in Konoha stated Inuzuka Tsume was a rowdy bitch, severely loyal too, but a bitch first and foremost, one who didn't care about anyone outside her family and clan, but Team Kick Ass (sweet Kami why did Rikku have to choose such a stupid name for their squad?) had changed that. With worry coursing through her very veins Tsume almost wished they hadn't. If something happened to them, and she lost even a single one, she didn't know what she'd do, she would be inconsolable; a lump formed in her throat at just the thought of it.

Reaching the Forest of Death's entrance Tsume slowed her approach, having no idea what was actually going on inside and running in half cocked, guns a blazing was a rookie mistake that she couldn't afford to make, not with her teams' lives on the line. Peering through the gate she saw nothing and decided to run on through, she knew where Rikku's seal was placed, even if the girl thought she'd been clever getting one in there, and she could pick up their scent from there. Heading off west toward the seals' location she stopped at a word from Kuromaru.

"What?" she asked impatiently.

"East of here, about a half-mile, the enemy has three leaf shinobi captured. I'm not sure what they're doing but the smell of blood is thick in the air."

Sniffing expectantly Tsume could indeed smell the iron that signaled a great deal of the crimson body fluid had been spilt and she grimaced, "Come on lets go, our kids aren't there."

She started off west again only to find Kuromaru was not following behind her.

"What now?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Last I heard all of Konoha was part of the pack," her nin-dog reminded her. "Am I wrong? Did someone change that?"

"Hai, you're right," she said with shame.

Turning east Tsume and Kuromaru moved stealthily toward the smell of Konoha's shinobi. The pungent metallic odor of blood hung heavily in the air and it wasn't long before Tsume recognized the scent of one of the victims. It was Fugaku's boy, the one whom Hana had said she would marry if things didn't work out with her Zumo-kun, and as far as her nose could tell Itachi was suffering from some massive bleeding. Picturing the small stoic boy eating dango with Hana she cringed thinking she had almost left without helping him. What would Fugaku have thought? They hadn't worked together in years but he'd been on her first jonin squad and had remained there for two years before he was tapped to take the position of clan leader. They'd gotten along then, but what would he say if he found out she'd left his 6 year old with the enemy when she could have easily saved him? Wait, what the hell was a 6 year old doing out here in a battle? Forget what Fugaku would say to her, what would she say to him about his poor parenting skills.

Coming upon the captive leaf shinobi it was obvious Fugaku's boy and Orochimaru's reject, known in certain circles as Izumo's lady of love, had been knocked out long before becoming captives, which meant the remaining prisoner had to have been carrying them both. He must have been ambushed and unable to defend himself due to the precious cargo he had been carrying. Otherwise he was just a terrible ninja, these yahoos holding them were pathetic and even an academy student should have been able to take them out in a fair fight.

Noticing the condition of Itachi and Anko, Tsume realized why he'd risked everything to carry them both. Without medical attention, like yesterday, neither of them was going to make it. The three idiots holding them captive foolishly continued arguing the merits of keeping their prisoners, never once noticing the kunoichi creeping up behind them or the giant dog following her and when she finally sent three kunai colliding with their head's and skewering their brains through the back of their skulls they'd still had no clue what had happened.

"Arigato, arigato," the genin began thanking Tsume. "Thank you so much, I had no idea how –"

"Hurry up and get them to the hospital," Tsume cut him off. "Kuromaru, take the boy."

"Hai," the nin-dog said, picking up Itachi and running off toward Konoha General.

"You should be able to move faster now," she observed.

Taking a hint from her earlier remarks the boy picked up the remaining kunoichi as her body continued convulsing and simply nodded at Tsume before sprinting for the gate. Now finally free to move west and find her own students Tsume really hoped they weren't in the same condition as those other two.

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Hizashi could not have been prouder of his students. They'd shown remarkable courage and poise in battle; even Yugao had managed to keep her emotions in check, an amazing feat for the hot-blooded kunoichi. When the fighting had commenced they had held their ground; protecting Hatake and Uchiha above everything else and refusing to leave their comrades behind. He'd noticed the samurai's tactics of attempting to bait his apprentices and goad them into giving chase conveniently leaving their colleagues unprotected for easy pickings. Noting this, Hizashi made sure to keep an eye on the proceedings without actually warning his team. With himself as backup, he made sure to test them on how well they had listened to the mission parameters. As it turned out, they'd listened very well; neither had been enticed furthermore both remained steadfastly at the side of their comrades and Hizashi couldn't have been more delighted. Their progress in the few short months he'd had them was remarkable, and he couldn't help but to think it might have something to do with him as well; that all of their accomplishments were as a team rather than as individuals. He was glad to have gotten a team, while he'd done his best and made sure their fighting prowess had increased tenfold, they had helped him in ways he hadn't imagined. Because of them Hizashi found himself free of the Hyuga cage and hopeful about life once again, and he couldn't help but think he'd gotten the much sweeter side of the deal; he'd forever be grateful to the Hokage for putting them in his life.

After the original attempts to lure his team away had failed and it became apparent that the enemy would not be getting to the incapacitated ninja, the samurai began avoiding them like the plague. They couldn't hope to match the shinobi in skill and so had made the collective decision to just stay away from them. While this meant it was infinitely easier to protect Kakashi and Obito, it also meant none of the invaders were getting the justice that they deserved, and Tsume's genin were getting in all the practice. It was decided then that they would move the unconscious ninja and Hizashi would guard them to give his team a chance to get some fighting in as practice for the upcoming chunin exam.

Watching his team (as well as guarding the chunin and jonin) Hizashi noticed that Hayate seemed to be taking the first watch, while Yugao whirled wildly through their enemies, cutting them down indiscriminately, only the problem was he wasn't supposed to be watching. He was supposed to be fighting, which was the whole reason Hizashi was not. Fortunately this was soon remedied.

"Baka!" he heard shouted at the boy in warning before the palm of a hand smacked the backside of his head and then Yugao was dashing away from him again to wreak havoc on their enemies. Finally, Hayate too began to move. Where his female counterpart was all power and intensity, a real bruiser, Hayate was grace and speed cutting a deadly dance through their opponents, his sword weaving through the crowds effortlessly. Hizashi was impressed and wished the invaders were a bit stronger; he had really wanted to witness the jutsu they'd worked so hard on in a real battle. However, high caliber warriors these men were not, and using ninjutsu on them would have been overkill. Instead he'd restricted them to only taijutsu, turning this into more of a training exercise than anything else.

In conjunction with Tsume's team they made short work of the remaining samurai and soon the two teams converged on the center of the battlefield.

"I think we got them all," Tsume's spikey haired genin proclaimed proudly. "Haha! Taken down by a bunch of genin, it's no wonder Konoha is the best ninja village ever!"

"Hell yeah! Team Kick Ass gets shit done bitches!" the small blond girl shouted with a mouth that Hizashi would have sworn couldn't come from such a pretty face had he not heard it for himself. "We're just a bunch of samurai killing machines, and they were just punks."

"Those idiots never stood a chance. When Team Kick Ass is on the job the mission gets done," the spikey haired kid spoke again.

"Oh really? And just who sanctioned this particular mission Kotetsu?" an angry voice growled in the night and the spikey haired boy, apparently named Kotetsu, froze in place. The rest of his team stood gaping; just as easily cowed. Hizashi silently wondered how Tsume had managed to instill such fear in her squad, and if he might be able to get some pointers to do it with his. His own group respected him and listened to him, but he'd never seen them respond quite like the Inuzuka matriarch's team was right now, and he had to admit he was a little jealous.

"Izumo did it," the girl piped up, throwing her remaining teammate under the veritable bus. "He woke us up and said we had to save his precious Anko-chan, and sensei you know as well as I do that even if we hadn't gone he would have went on his own. And you taught us that we should work as a team so we couldn't very well say no."

"Anko-chan? That girl's a crazy psycho." Hizashi heard Hayate whisper to Yugao and tried not to snicker when Tsume's eyes narrowed on him and his student shrunk back in fear (yeah, he was definitely going to have to ask her how she did that). It seemed Hayate didn't have any knowledge of the Inuzuka clan's abilities, because just a minute later he was murmuring to Yugao about the scary woman with fangs, and Tsume was grinning evilly. Hizashi would have to remedy that, who knew whom the boy would wind up facing in the chunin exam and he should at least have some idea about the capabilities of Konoha's most prolific clans.

"You three are all in serious trouble, regardless of whose idea this was," Tsume barked at her cell. "Take those two over there and get them to the hospital now. Then go home, you'll all be punished soon enough. The Hokage is not going to be happy about this."

"Hai sensei," the three of them said in unison, and then moved toward their fallen comrades. The boys picked up the unconscious shinobi and Hizashi heard Yugao snort and give the smaller girl a hard time, because of course Yugao would never let her male teammates look better than her. The blonde's eyes narrowed at the remark but she only smirked in response, letting her jutsu speak for her as she and her teammates simply disappeared, probably reappearing in Konoha General if gossip about her abilities was even remotely correct; leaving his own student to gape foolishly at the now vacant spot they'd just been standing in.

"Don't ever underestimate a shinobi Yugao," Hizashi chided. "You never know their abilities. Your arrogance is going to cost you one day."

"Sorry sensei, it won't happen again," the humbled kunoichi answered.

"I hope not. Now you two go search for survivors. We need to know who set this up. Go now, and hurry back. This mission is not yet over," he ordered.

With his team out of the way Hizashi turned to Tsume, the only other shinobi in the vicinity he'd feel okay with bringing along to face the Kyubi.

"What is it Hizashi? What are you seeing with those eyes that I can't see? I know that damned chakra didn't come from these samurai. There's no way my students would even be alive right now if it was, not even with your help. So what gives? What is it?" Tsume's somber tone showed her trepidation and looking into her eyes Hizashi saw a seriousness he hadn't even known she could possess.

"It's a demon. No, it's _the _demon. The Kyubi no Yoko; strongest of all the tailed beasts," he said matter-of-factly, remaining as cool and detached as he possibly could. It would do nobody any good for him to admit his all consuming fear of the beast.

Tsume's fist came up to her mouth in a nervous gesture and her face turned whiter than her student's had before. "The nine-tails? Are you sure?"

"Hai."

"Shit!" She shook her head in disbelief. "Where is it? What is it doing here?"

"It's headed north, toward the Valley of the End, but I don't know why. And I'm guessing the only people who do are all unconscious at the hospital right now. Unless of course you think your genin know something they aren't telling us."

"No, they don't know anything. They don't even know about the demon or they wouldn't have left me here. As far as they're concerned they've already eliminated the threat to Konoha."

"Then I guess we'll never know why it's here," Hizashi said gazing off into the distance, savoring the night air.

"I guess not. It's just you and me, huh? I know we can't win, but maybe we can slow it down a bit. Maybe save a few people before we go?"

"Let's hope so."

"Sensei!" Yugao shouted from the distance. "We found four but we're having some trouble."

"Trouble?" Hizashi questioned, it seemed relatively quiet with no sounds of a struggle.

"They're heavier than we anticipated sensei," Hayate explained.

"They're fat sensei!" the purple haired kunoichi exclaimed. "How can they claim to be warriors when they're in such pathetic condition? It's no wonder they were so easily killed, they couldn't even have run away. They're too fat to get very far, and just forget about them being fast."

As he and Tsume came upon his students dragging four large bodies behind them, he saw that though crass, Yugao's assessment was correct. The men were obese, barely fitting into their armor. Even knocked out they were still breathing heavily from what could only have been a short run due to how quickly his genin had returned.

"Why would Ame send such worthless opponents to attack the most powerful of the great shinobi nations?" Hizashi asked aloud. "Were they so sure they were going to fail that they sent only the most expendable of their forces?"

"If that was the case, why attack at all?" Tsume puzzled. "Unless they were sure they would win?"

"But why would they think they could win with these guys?" Yugao interjected.

"They didn't," Tsume responded with confidence. "They knew about the fox. They didn't have to send their best warriors because the Kyubi would do all the hard work. They'd only have to do the clean up."

"And they wouldn't send their best soldiers to fight alongside a demon. By sending inferior fighters they insured that any casualties were of those that were expendable, which would explain why there weren't any ninja with them when attacking a shinobi village. They didn't want to chance accidentally losing anyone important to the demon," Hizashi reasoned, agreeing with Tsume's theory.

"But how would they know the demon was going to be here?" Yugao asked.

"An inside man," Tsume growled as the reality of it hit her.

"But who?" Hizashi was perplexed.

"Sensei?" Hayate spoke up.

"Not right now Hayate, we need to think about this clearly. I need to concentrate," Hizashi answered, his mind so busy going over possible traitors to Konoha that he didn't even bother to look at his student.

"But sensei it's important," the boy answered back.

"What Hayate?" Hizashi said with all impatience. "What could be more important than figuring out who did this before they can do it again? Oh—"

As he turned to reprimand his insubordinate pupil he knew immediately what the problem was. While they'd been deeply involved in their conversation, their other allies had not been. It appeared the four men in their possession were the only remaining samurai in the forest because they were now completely surrounded by the mutilated corpses coming to collect their prey. As far as he could see the reanimated bodies filled the forest, intent on only one thing, the destruction of Konoha's enemies; even now the ones closest to them were beginning to pull lightly at the arms and legs of the captives, as if to remind the Konoha shinobi what needed to be done.

"If you want to ask them anything I suggest you do it quickly," Hayate offered timidly. "I don't think they have much longer."

"Hayate," Yugao said coolly. "Throw one of them into the mob. With their focus on him it should buy us some time to question the other three."

"What?" Hayated stammered. "You can't be serious. We can't do that."

"She's right," Tsume conceded. "We can do it, and we have to do it."

"What? No way! Sensei?" Hayate's voice rose in pitch as he gawked at the two obviously disturbed women and then turned toward his mentor, sure that Hizashi would be the voice of reason in lieu of the kunoichis insanity. They could not throw these men to their deaths, to be ripped apart by these mindless zombies.

"It has to be done Hayate," Hizashi answered while pushing back the encroaching horde. "We need the time with the other three. As horrible as it seems, it's the only option. We need information to secure Konoha's safety."

Hayate's face paled as he came to terms with their current situation. He knew Yugao was right, but it didn't make it feel any better. Looking at the four overweight men tied and gagged at his feet he could see the terror in their eyes and he wanted to vomit. How could he choose one to be torn to pieces? Who was he to make that choice? Realizing for the first time the repugnant nature of the job he'd chosen Hayate cracked on the inside.

"Step aside if you can't do it," Yugao demanded, pushing her way over and eying the prisoners.

"I guess you wish you'd eaten more desserts," she said heartlessly to the thinnest of the group before reinforcing her muscles with chakra and hoisting him above her small body; tossing him out and over the awaiting puppets. As she did so, Hizashi and Tsume flashed to the remaining captives, each grabbing one of the tied men and jumping into the tree branches above. One remained at his feet and just as he'd managed to shake himself from the moral daze he'd been inflicted with and moved to pick the man up, Yugao once again beat him to the punch; leaping into the tree with the gagged man. Below, the puppets must have knocked the gag from the man's mouth because suddenly the forest was filled with the agonizing screams of a man being torn apart limb from limb slowly and painfully. The sounds being ripped from his throat were terrifying and soul piercing, even Yugao was flinching occasionally at the horror of it, and each and every tormented wail broke Hayate just a little bit more.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

Ripping the gag from between the soon-to-be-dead man's lips Yugao now knew why she was the only one getting personal instruction from Hizashi-sensei; she was the only one on their team capable of making ANBU. Iruka was too kind for the shinobi life, some people just weren't cut out for it, she didn't think any less of him; she just felt sad that she wouldn't get to work beside him for the rest of her career. She'd thought she'd at least have Hayate with her, but today's events seemed to have proven otherwise and it looked like she'd be on her own.

Grabbing the prisoner by his hair she held his face in front of her, glaring only inches from his face, she demanded an answer to her question, "Who were you meeting here?"

"I don't know," the man answered tearfully, the salty drops running generously down his face over his chubby red cheeks.

"Who were you meeting here? And who set this meeting up?" she asked again, continuing to stare the man down.

"I don't know," he sobbed another time.

"You don't know?" she said, with disbelief in her voice.

"No, I don't know anything, please believe me," he whimpered.

"I think you're lying," she said smiling wickedly, and Hayate cringed, a 12 year old girl should never be able to look that evil. "But thank you, because since you're lying, I get to hurt you, and I'm going to like hurting you."

"I don't know anything," the man reiterating while continuing to weep. His eyes followed her hands as she pulled a kunai from her pouch, moving it to his throat, and finally pushing the sharp metal point into the soft flabby skin of his jowls.

"Like I said, I think you're lying," she repeated, drawing a shallow cut down his flesh, causing him to cry out in pain. From his vantage point behind her, Hayate was sure from the blubbering man's moans of agony that he didn't know anything, and this was going to get them nowhere. Standing up to attempt a stop to Yugao's cruel actions he caught a glimpse of the samurais' face and knew he'd been wrong all along. Where he'd believed the guy to be telling the truth he'd been wrong, Yugao had been correct, the man knew exactly what they needed to know. Now that he'd realized the small kunoichi wasn't playing around with him he'd dropped the charade. His face was blank and his jaw clenched in defiance, he wasn't going to say anything. Hayate felt like a fool, this whole time he'd been protecting an enemy of the village, someone who would see it destroyed and everyone in it killed, and he'd tried to defend him; he promised himself he would never make that mistake again.

Yugao smirked homicidally at the samurai and even chuckled psychotically in his face. "I knew you were lying; now it's only a matter of time before we know what's in that ugly little head of yours."

"I'm not telling you anything bitch," the man spat.

"I disagree," she said, pushing his hand up against the trunk of the tree with her left hand to keep it still, and using the kunai in her right to cut off his pinky. Howling in misery, the man doubled over in pain only to be kneed in the face by Hayate's purple haired teammate.

"So who sent you here?"

Apparently having had enough, the man answered truthfully for the first time that day, "The Kouukage."

"Bullshit!" Yugao raged. "Rain doesn't have a kage. They haven't earned the right to the title yet."

"Hahaha," the prisoner cackled. "Konoha is so arrogant. You know nothing. You think you're all so strong, that nothing can touch you, but the Kouukage is right. Konoha is nothing. So blinded by your conceit you can't see what's in front of you. Those that you are so proud of will be your downfall."

"Oh really? So you do know who the traitor is. Now you'll have to tell me that too."

"Why would I tell you anything? I'm going to die regardless of what I tell you. Even if I give you everything I know I'm going to die anyway, so really there is no incentive to help you out."

"You—"

"Ano sa, please step aside Yugao," Hayate cut her off and gently picked her up, turned around and set her down behind him in his previous location while he now occupied hers.

"Hahaha," the man chuckled. "Am I supposed to be afraid now? The big bad man is going to try torturing me… oh no! You've got to be kidding me. You should have let the girl do this; you don't have the chutzpa kid. Neither of you are gonna get anything out of me, but she had a much better shot at it. You don't have the stomach for what needs to be done. But your girlfriend over there, she does. I bet she could disembowel me without even blinking. She's dead inside already, because that's what the high and mighty Konoha does to its children; breaks them from the inside out."

"Shut your mouth you piece of shit! Hayate if you aren't going to hurt him get out of my way. I _am_ going to disembowel this piece of trash," Yugao fumed.

Smirking the man looked Hayate in the eyes, " You better let her at me boy, you don't have it in you. You're still to kind, let the heartless bitch do it."

"She can't," Hayate stated simply. "You're going to tell me what I want to know, not because you're afraid of me, or what I'll do to you, but because of what I'll do for you. Something my associate over there would never have done."

"That's crap Hayate," Yugao shouted at him. "Anything you can do I can do too."

"I bet she can, and probably better kid. Because she doesn't care."

"That's exactly my point," Hayate affirmed. "I do care, sweet Kami I wish I didn't care, but dammit I do. Which is why I know you'll believe me when I make this offer. You tell us who the traitor is and I'll kill you."

"You're kidding me right? That's my incentive? Death? Fuck you, teme."

"Yeah, that's the incentive. You tell me who the traitor is and who he was talking to in your village and I'll kill you. Slit your throat, or put a kunai in the back of your skull. Your choice. It'll be quick and relatively painless. You don't tell me, and I drop you to the zombies. The fall will break your legs so you can't run away, and you'll be alive while they pull you apart piece by piece biting and scratching at your flesh. You heard your friend go that way, is it something you want to emulate?"

The samurai looked him in the eye, then looked back toward Yugao, and then down at the milling dead.

"You have 30 seconds to decide." Hayate declared, they were running out of time, every second they took was another one that the Kyubi was out there destroying the land of fire, but he was met with silence.

"Tick tock," the kunoichi called in an obnoxious sing-song voice. "You're running out the clock. 15 – 14 – 13 – 12…"

"Yugao!" Hayate snapped and the female was silent.

"I don't know his whole name. He's an Uchiha. Super powerful. He and a few others were to meet us here and they were going to summon the demon, then we would clean up anything it missed. Our Kouukage was meeting with him. Even if you Konoha bastards don't acknowledge him, it doesn't mean he isn't there. That's all I know,' the man finally answered, melancholy now replacing the rancor his voice had once held. "Please make it quick."

Turning the man around so he faced the tree, Hayate's sword plunged through the back of the man's head, killing him instantly.

"Good job," Yugao said softly, knowing what doing it must have cost him. "I didn't think you had it in you."

"Neither did I and I almost wish I didn't," Hayate admitted, hanging his head dejectedly as he made a move to jump down out of the tree. Before he could though, a firm hand gripped his forearm tightly and he looked up into Yugao's eyes.

"He was wrong you know," she said, her gaze filled with sincerity. "About me, about Konoha, about you. He was just wrong. I'm not dead inside, and I'm not broken, and neither are you, or the children of Konoha. He was preaching at us but can he honestly say his village is any better? Ame can say what it wants about Konoha, but our Hokage would never have sent 1000 untrained out of shape men to their deaths. I know I was cold and I was cruel, but that man, those men, were enemies of Konoha, of our home, they were here to see a demon wipe us off the map, shinobi, civilians, the elderly, women, and children, all of us. And I will always do what I must to protect what is precious to me, I hope you remember to do the same."

A/N: I don't know anything about torture or interrogation (which I actually think is a good thing) so I don't know if that's how it would get done, but for the purposes of this story, that's how it went I guess. If you have any suggestions for improvement please let me know.

Also if you could provide me with a review I'd love you forever and ever, I'll even offer favors for them, whatever you need, if I can do it, its yours. 


	20. The Best Laid Plans

Chapter 20 – The Best Laid Plans

From the branches of giant willow tree an extremely pissed off Inuzuka Tsume dropped to the floor with a feline grace no one would ever believe Konoha's One True _Bitch_ could possess. She deposited the still warm body of what had proven to be a useless enemy samurai on the ground where it promptly began twitching as the power of Mitarashi Anko's jutsu reanimated it. She'd questioned him thoroughly for information on Konoha's traitor but it had ultimately proven useless; the man had actually known even less than her. While it was rarely true what they said about Inuzuka's, most of them did not have the finely tuned sense of smell necessary to sniff out a lie, as next in line to be matriarch of the clan Tsume's nose could do it with ease. Bastard that he was (anyone who attacked her home was trash as far as she was concerned), when he'd said he didn't know anything he'd told her the truth. After that she had few qualms about slitting his throat and even fewer about the way his body was being dishonored by Anko's jutsu.

It seemed to her that while samurai were always spouting off at the mouth about how noble and virtuous the samurai warrior is and how treacherous and deceitful a ninja is, they were being awfully hypocritical. A samurai was just as quick to resort to dubious means to accomplish one of their grand and honorable designs as a shinobi was to complete a mission. In fact, as far as she was concerned that made the ninja the more credible of the two. At least with a ninja a person knew what to expect. With a ninja a person knew what they were getting, there was no false pretense of honor and glory. A ninja was going to be sneaky and conniving and probably kill some people to get your job done; a samurai would take the job and claim its righteousness all the way up to the point where he took your money stabbed you in the back and condemned you for your disreputable deeds. Both warriors were capable of devious two-faced behavior, but at least shinobi were up front and honest about it. Tsume saw no honor in the actions of the samurai killed in Konoha's forest tonight. They'd snuck into an allied country in the middle of the night intending to use a demon to do their dirty work and slaughter not only the villages soldiers but the civilians, doctors, merchants, the old and feeble, women and children too, and at the first signs that things were not going as planned, they'd all turned tail and tried to run away. If that was the samurai's idea of bravery and valor Tsume would have no part of it.

Looking back up into the trees she wondered how much longer everyone else would be with their prisoners (her short attention span was the stuff of legends and she was constantly teased about picking up her nin-dog's characteristics – Kuromaru was often offended by this, as it was by no means one of his personal traits), and considered whether or not she should go help out Hizashi's genin with their captive. She knew Hizashi's eyes were just as good as her nose for hunting out a lie, but as far as she knew neither of his students had any such endowment. Just as she was about to leap up into the branches she heard a loud yelp and a dead body flopped awkwardly from the branches above slamming into the ground. Rising jerkily the corpse took only two limping steps before falling down again, apparently its legs had been broken badly in the fall and though the thing no longer felt any pain, the bones were just too damaged to support any weight. Watching its continuous futile attempts to stand Tsume almost felt badly for the pathetic creature the samurai had become. Still staring ahead, unable to tear her eyes from the disturbingly gruesome scene, she heard rather than saw Hizashi follow, dropping gracefully to the forest floor.

"Were you able to get any information?" he asked coolly.

"No, he didn't know anything. You?" Tsume answered, hopeful that the Hyuga had been luckier.

"He claimed to be sent by the Kouukage, but knew nothing of the Konoha traitor's identity."

"The Kouukage? There's no such thing. Does he think we're idiots?"

"No, he truly believed he'd been sent by the Kouukage. Just because the man hasn't been recognized as a kage by the Five Great Nations does not mean he doesn't exist and claim the respect of Ame's people. It is my opinion that a Kouukage resides in Amegakure as far as the citizens for Rain are concerned, and that in itself is a dangerous development."

Tsume nodded in agreement, "Do you think your kids are having better luck? Should we step in?"

"I have faith in my team but I doubt their prisoner has any more useful information than ours did. And actually I would like to begin our chase for the fox before they get done, as I'd prefer that they were not involved in it."

"Hai, let's get going than," she said; understanding completely hid need and desire to keep his team out of danger. "Which way bright eyes?"

"We head north. And please refrain from calling me that."

"Haha, I'll give it a try but I make no promises."

About two seconds into their journey Hizashi suddenly put his hand on her arm and stopped her before they'd even gone five feet.

"What now?"

"Our Hokage is on his way here. He should be here any –"

Suddenly Minato was standing before them, and there was no reason for him to finish that particular sentence. Tsume had seen the Hokage use the Hiraishin no Jutsu several times before but she still managed to be impressed by the sight of it. One minute he wasn't there and the next second he was, if you blinked you could miss it, and his sudden appearance never ceased to startle her. Even her own student, Rikku, whose transportation jutsu was causing quite a fuss in the jonin locker room had a two second delay at the exit and entrance during which an extremely skilled ninja could see her and kill her; Minato had no delay, he just wasn't there at all and then suddenly he was. She noticed him looking around at the mobile cadavers wobbling about and cursed inwardly that all of the samurai had yet to be killed and Anko as bound to get in trouble for the jutsu, even though she'd managed to save the lives of all those who'd gotten involved in this whole mess.

"What the hell is going on here?" Minato asked incredulously.

Abruptly, before either jonin could answer him, the puppets all fell down dead where they stood, finally released from the Death god's control and free to move on to the afterlife. Then both Hayate and Yugao descended from the lofty tree tops and landed nimbly beside their sensei. Seemingly unaware of their Hokage's presence Yugao launched into a rave review of Hayate's interrogation strategy, not even stopping when Minato cleared his throat loudly, she plowed on babbling incessantly, totally ignorant to the proximity of her supreme commander. In fact, the chatter didn't cease until Hayate grabbed her arm spinning her around to face Konoha's leader.

"Summimasen Hokage-sama!" the girl apologized with all haste, her face bright red with embarrassment. "I didn't know you were here. I meant no disrespect. Please forgive me my rudeness, it will never happen again."

"There is nothing to forgive Uzuki-san," Minato said kindly, than looked back to the two jonin. "Now will you tell me what in the hell is going on here?"

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

Minato did his best to maintain eye contact with his concerned jonin as they gave their report of events but he was having quite a bit of trouble doing so with so many distractions. Spread all around them, scattered throughout the forest, were the bodies of hundreds of samurai, bodies that just a moment ago had been upright and mobile, moving around, and undeniably motivated by some kind of mission. Minato knew exactly what could have done that to the bodies, and he also knew that very few people knew the jutsu that would do it, and even fewer that were actually powerful enough to pull it off. Instantly he thought of the two people he was sure knew it, and wondered which one of them it was.

If it was her, than the heaven seal had granted her far more power than he could have imagined. But surely it couldn't be her, surely Anko was home with Kakashi and Obito, in bed, sleeping, and not all in the same bad. So if this wasn't just some random shinobi, which he was sure it wasn't, it had to be an attack from Orochimaru. Turning his attention back to the report he was being given (silently apologizing to Tsume and Hizashi for spacing out) he heard them say Tsume's genin had carried Kakashi and Obito to Konoha General to be treated for chakra exhaustion. Kuso! He was going to kill them; what the hell were they doing out here?

"Excuse me," he interrupted. "Do any of you know why they were out here in the first place?"

Hizashi blinked rapidly before responding, obviously figuring out he hadn't been paying attention. "As I said Hokage-sama, we believe it had something to do with the samurai. Tsume received a note from her genin that they were coming here to save Mitarashi Anko from the invaders."

"Anko was out here?" Minato's hopes that the girl was not involved with the use of the Shisa Kugutsu sunk through the floor, and yet he still felt a small sense of relief. If it was Anko who'd violated the law, then it wasn't Orochimaru, and for that they should all be grateful. Punishing Anko would be a painful task, one he would not relish, but the alternative was far worse. The snake Sannin was a deadly foe, one who up until recently had been a close confidant of the third Hokage and a well respected hero of the village. As such, he had intricate knowledge of Konoha's surveillance systems, invasion and evacuation procedures, as well as information on their anti-siege weaponry and most of their more famous clan jutsu's. Now declared a missing nin, Minato considered him one of Konoha's biggest threats to security. While they had started to change their defense plans and procedures as soon as he'd left, the fact was that implementing such a large scale conversion took a lot of time. Not to mention the massive reconstruction Konoha's cave systems and evacuation routes were in the process of undergoing. Even the possibility that Orochimaru might have aligned with an enemy shinobi village was enough to have made Minato sick to his stomach. As much as removing Anko from active duty and destroying her chakra coils was going to haunt him, he was still thankful that it had been her.

"Yes, Anko and Itachi were brought t the hospital even before Obito and Kakashi. Umino Iruka carried them both through the majority of the forest before he was caught by three hostile samurai a half mile from the exit gate where Kuromaru and I found him," Tsume recounted. "I eradicated the enemy and dispatched Kuromaru to carry Itachi the rest of the way, freeing Iruka to carry just Anko and make better time."

"Then you came here to fight the remaining invaders?" Minato asked.

"That was my original intention but the threat had already been neutralized before my arrival. Mine and Hizashi's genin cell's had taken care of it without me."

"You mean to tell me that 1000 samurai assailants were wiped out completely by just you, Hizashi, and six genin?" Minato gaped in astonishment, finding it near impossible to wrap his head around, yet feeling slightly excited for the next chunin exam where his kids were going to wipe the floor with the other genin.

"That's not entirely true Hokage-sama," Hizashi explained. "While I by no means wish to marginalize the importance of the roll my students, as well as Tsumes', played in the extermination of our enemies this evening, I'd like to make it entirely clear that without the help of Mitarashi-san's jutsu it is most likely that we would all be dead."

"Do you two believe that to be the case as well?" Minato turned to Hizashi's genin.

"Hai Hokage-sama," Gekko Hayate answered. "If it were not for the support we received from the puppets I doubt very much that we could have managed to survive."

"Are you of the same opinion?" he asked Yugao.

"Yes, though it is not opinion but fact. The number of enemies we faced was too great. Had it not been for Mitarashi-san we would all have been slaughtered," the blue haired kunoichi replied.

Minato nodded his head in acknowledgement of what they'd just said; in light of this new information perhaps he could lessen the severity of her sentence. Still there was so much he didn't understand about tonight, and the jonin report had actually given rise to more questions than answers.

"When I arrived the pair f you were about to leave, yet evidence points to all of the samurai being accounted for. Where were you heading? And did you have something to do with that massive chakra signature?"

Hizashi's eyes again blinked repeatedly, only this time they almost bugged out of his head too, and Tsume's jaw dropped, leaving her mouth hanging open as if she was about to start catching flies. Obviously they had answered this question earlier in their report that he hadn't been paying attention to, and now both of them knew he hadn't listened at all.

"Hokage-sama, we had intended to go after the Kyubi," Tsume finally got her tongue back in her mouth to answer him.

"The Kyubi?" The demon fox is loose?" Minato exclaimed in shock. "How? Who did this?"

"We don't know," Hizashi responded. "And the only people who might are all unconscious in Konoha General."

"I want you all to report back to the hokage tower. I'm calling an emergency council meeting and I want all of you present, as well as the other four genin who were here tonight. I'll see you at the tower, and I know I don't have to tell you to move with all haste."

On his way back to the tower Minato ran into the teams of Hyuga Hiashi, Nara Shikaku, and Kewano Terou that he'd ordered assembled and amended his command to include having them present at the emergency council meeting as well. The more heads he had coming together on this the better he thought. He had no idea how to battle the nine-tailed demon fox and as he ran all the way back into town he couldn't help but think the village might have been in better hands if Hiruzen had not yet named his successor.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

Shaking the last bit of fatigue from his aching bones Hiruzen dressed quickly for the emergency council session Minato had called. In his haste to reach the meeting quickly he nearly bowled over Koharu as he rushed out his door.

"Damn you Sarutobi! Stupid baka! Can't you watch where you're going? I thought you were a ninja for crying out loud!" his cranky teammate blustered at him. Koharu had never been a morning person and was always ornery when woken earlier than usual, even in her days as a young kunoichi. She had only grown more cantankerous with age and Minato's summons seemed to have done little in the way of making her less disagreeable.

"My apologies, Koharu-chan, but I was under the impression that you were one of the finest kunoichi Konoha had to offer. I've heard it said that there is nothing more beautiful to see than to watch Utatane Koharu's manrikigusari death dance. I must have been misinformed, as surely a woman who can dance with a Manrikigusari when most cannot even master them enough to fight an academy student would have been able to dodge my distracted steps."

"You…. You…," Koharu steamed. "My apologies to you Hiru-chan, I should have been more aware of my surroundings, but my mind his preoccupied. The urgency of this situation has not escaped me and I fear for the village's safety when the hokage demands a council meeting before sunrise."

Hiruzen only nodded solemnly, the meeting's importance had not escaped him either, not that she had believed it would. Though nearly ancient in ninja years, Hiruzen was still as sharp as he'd been at 16 when he'd first fallen in love with her Manrikigusari death dance, and nothing escaped him.

The two of them hurried on in silence, reaching Hokage tower in moments and taking their seats to the right of Minato. The council chamber was circular in design, on one side, raised up higher than on the other, were three tiers of seating. On the top row the Hokage's chair was placed center, with the members of the High Council, elected by the Konoha Governing Council, including Koharu, Hiruzen, Homura, and Danzo, to his right and left. The second row was the Konoha Council, consisting of the heads of Konoha's most important families, and the third was made up of the Hokage's appointed advisors. Jiraiya had taken his seat in the third row, next to the empty one for Tsunade; still out of the village her seat would remain vacant a Minato refused to have her replaced, even with the council's urging. Uchiha Fugaku, Hyuga Hiashi, Aburame Shibi, as well as the Inuzuka, Kurama, Yamanaka, Nara, and Hagane clan leaders filled the second tier seats and the meeting would soon be called to order. Across from the leveled seating, several square tables had been hastily set up to accommodate the presence of the teams that had been found in the Forest of Death, well the ones healthy enough to make it anyway. Hiruzen noticed the nervousness in the genin about to give the most important testimony at the meeting and empathized with the youngsters, even after years of being Hokage, the Professor still disliked speaking in front to large groups.

Minato called the meeting to order; silence filled the room while everyone waited with bated breath as their young Hokage gave credence to the nightmarish rumor they'd hoped he'd dispel. The nine-tailed demon fox was here, and Konoha might burn. The Kyubi no Yoko was here and there was no pretending otherwise.

"How can we be certain it is in fact the Kyubi no Yoko?" Danzo challenged. "Nobody actually did battle with it correct? Maybe it is only a well done genjutsu?"

"I witnessed it with my very own eyes Danzo-sama," Hizashi offered from a square table at the center of the room. "With the Byakugan activated I was able to see all nine-tails, and had it been just a genjutsu it wouldn't have been seen at all."

"Did anyone else see it?" the crotchety High Council member demanded. "Are we to take the word of a single Hyuga, a branch member at that, on so important a matter as this?"

From his seat on the chamber floor Hizashi balked. Was his family status actually going to dishonor him in such an important place? At such an important time? This couldn't really be happening, not when Konoha was in danger.

"You doubt the word of a Hyuga? Is my brother's honor in doubt?" Hiashi's strong clear voice cut through the whispered chatter at the old man's question and Hiruzen smiled to see the man standing up for his brother. "Hizashi's record as a jonin of Konoha is exemplary and there has never been any occasion that would discredit his testimony. I, in representation of the Hyuga clan, am angered that such a question dare be even posed in my presence."

"My apologies Hiashi-sama, and Hizashi-sama," Minato stepped in, glaring daggers at Danzo. "Nobody here doubts the word of Hizashi. I am well aware of his brave service to Konoha and he has my utmost trust. The fact that the nine-tails has been loosed on Fire Country is not in dispute. This meeting has been called to determine how we can stop it and minimize the damage it inflicts. Already pigeons are arriving en masse detailing the destruction it leaves behind. The other issue we must confront is that, according to reports, we have a traitor in our midst; one we must discover post haste, before they can cause us any more trouble."

A hush fell over the room as all assembled took a minute to digest the idea that a betrayer was in their home and was most likely one of their friends. Eyes twitched back and forth errantly as gazes moved from one person to the next and every person in the room began questioning the actions and motives of everyone they knew. The suspicious nature of all ninja, usually quelled in the presence of one's fellow shinobi, reared its ugly head in a room full of allies as each and every one of them gave pause to think about any activity that could be construed as odd or borderline secretive perpetrated by their friends of yesterday.

Suspicions be damned, Minato soldiered on; determining a strategy for dealing with the demon. It had been a very long time since the last sighting of the cursed beast and of those present during the encounter only Hiruzen, Homura, Koharu, and Danzo remained alive, and none of them were positive as to how the demon could be destroyed. A better understanding of its abilities would have to be determined before a final plan of action could be decided on. As such, the council decided to form two groups: Assault and Recovery.

Three jonin Assault teams would engage the nine-tails and assess its abilities. Squad 1, Uchiha Fugaku, Namiashi Raido, and Hyuga Hiashi would attack first while Squad 2, Kato Tadashi, Kewano Teruo, and Uchiha Mikoto acted as backup, running interference when necessary to keep Squad 1 out of harm. Squad 3, otherwise known as Ino-Shika-Cho, would categorize the demons attacks and strategize a way to defeat it. This was mostly a fact finding mission, so that a permanent solution could be discovered.

The recovery teams would be entering the small towns and villages ravaged by the demon to find survivors, give immediate medical attention, and when necessary end the misery of those still alive but with no chance of recovery. Squad A, consisting of Morino Ibiki, Shiranui Genma, and Oshira Tsubaki, would travel directly north to Furi-zu; the largest town in the path of the demon, countless reports had been flown in detailing its destruction. Squad B, Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, and Arakaki Ebisu, was to head out for the smaller village of Kurotori. Once secured they were to continue on to Furi-zu to help Squad A. Squad C, Kinjo Mizuki, Maito Gai, and Murakami Suzumi was to scout the landscape for refugees and other smaller destroyed villages, round them up and return them to Konoha. On route home they were to stop at Kurotori to pick up the villagers Team B marked for transport.

With a plan in place Minato turned the meeting back over to the issue of Konoha's traitor.

"No offense is meant here," Hiruzen stated before asking the loaded question. "But how have we gotten to the conclusion of one of our own as the enemy?"

"No offense is taken, Sarutobi-sama," Tsume answered, than described the battlefield conditions and samurai confession leading up to their hypothesis.

Nodding in agreement with the assessment Hiruzen than asked, "Can we speak with the two responsible for the confession? Please stand up so we might hear you better."

When the tiny blue haired kunoichi, Uzuki Yugao and the slight diminutive Gekko Hayate stood, Hiruzen did a double take. He'd forgotten how young 12 years old actually looked; how small a 12 year old genin actually was. They were so young; he almost didn't believe these were the ninja who's tortured the information out of an informant. But facts were facts, all ninja were capable of doing the most abhorrent things in defense of their village, regardless of age, and he would do good to remember it, he chastised himself. "You two spoke with him directly, do you have any guesses as to who it could be?"

Yugao looked over at her sensei for reassurance, an action that was not missed by Hiruzen and he worried about what was about to come out of her mouth. Yugao knew that admitting the man had fingered an Uchiha as the culprit was going to rein a whole lot of shit down on her head, which was why she hadn't brought it up until now, but she knew it had to be said. With Hizashi's approving nod she answered, "Hai Sarutobi-sama. The prisoner claimed the perpetrator was a powerful Uchiha, he –"

Anything else the poor girl was going to say was drowned out by the gasps and protests of all in the room. Disbelief clouded their faces and outrage contorted Fugaku's as he screamed defiance at the very idea that his clan could be involved; chaos dominated the council chamber.

"Silence!" Minato's voice boomed over all the commotion, and order was restored as all those present were cowed by the enormous chakra pressure he exuded , nearly overwhelming some of the genin in the room. "Yugao please continue with your evaluation of the situation, no one here will interrupt you."

Yugao took a deep breath, steadying herself for the shit storm about to come at her again when Hayate saved her the trouble. "As my associate mentioned, our captive said an Uchiha was working with the Kouukage. He also mentioned the man was powerful and had accomplices. While that was all the information he gave, after speaking with the third member of our squad as well as Inuzuka Tsume's squad we have to come up with our own idea of what may have occurred."

Yugao's original feeling of relief that Hayate was taking over to speak to the old cronies in the room had passed, now she was filled with resentment that he would get to deliver their hypothesis. To remedy this, she chose to interrupt and give the council the information herself. "We think the Kouukage was working with Uchiha Obito who must have had Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi as partners. All three were found with chakra exhaustion that could be a result of opening a portal to the demon's dimension. Also, we believe their teammate, Mitarashi Anko, discovered their plan and attempted to foil it. Puncture wounds from snake bites on Uchiha Itachi's limbs further corroborate this theory."

"Impossible," Minato muttered, there was no way his team was responsible for this. Right?

Noticing the look of terror on his successor's face at the idea that his student's were behind this treachery, a feeling Hiruzen was very familiar with, he moved to soften the blow. "A very well thougth out conclusion Uzuki-san, Gekko-san. Before we can be certain though we need to speak with Mitarashi-san."

Minato released a breath he hadn't known he was holding, surely Ankos' testimony would exonerate his students. "Hai, we will talk with Anko when she wakes up, in the mean time Tsume and Hizashi I want you to travel to Amegakure , infiltrate the Rain village, and verify the existence and identity of this Kouukage."

"Hai Hokage-sama," The two jonin accepted their orders.

"Return home, get some sleep, you leave for Ame at noon," Minato directed. "The rest of you notify the Assault and Recovery teams and ready yourselves for battle. There is no telling if the demon will return here and we need to be ready."

A/N: A big thank you to Kaori for betaing this chapter so quickly. And a thank you to all of you who read this story. Reviews are appreciated and always treasured even if they're bad.


	21. Putting Things In Motion

A/N: I'm not certain how I feel about this chapter, it proceeds how I'd planned for but it seems a little disjointed. That being said I don't think I know how to keep a story, or even a chapter, completely serious, so I apologize if the humor seems out of place but if you're reading this you probably should try to get used to it because I don't know how to get rid of it.

Chapter 21 – Putting Things In Motion

Hanging his head sorrowfully Minato clung to a dainty hand belonging to the comatose Mitarashi Anko, squeezing the poor thing so hard his own hand was beginning to feel a little sore from exertion. He'd spent the past two days begging her to wake up, as if it might happen if he simply wished for it hard enough. Spending so much time just staring at her hoping for any kind of movement he was taken aback by her incredibly small size. While he had been aware she was a tiny girl usually he didn't notice her diminutive size. Her personality was larger than life and her shinobi skill amazing, so when in her presence the last thing on anyone's mind was her height. Now, however, lying unconscious in a giant hospital bed that dwarfed her already slight body, it was hard to focus on anything else. She was just so small, and she was so pale; just a shell of the Anko he knew and loved. Minato had a hard time believing she would really wake up, and he really needed her to.

Obito, Kakashi, and Itachi had all woken up in the past two days and each had been confined to a holding cell where they would remain until it was proven they weren't Konoha's traitors. The problem with that was that the only person who could clear their names didn't look like she was about to do so anytime soon. Hell, she didn't even look like she would ever wake up again, forget about clearing their names. The doctors had no clue what was wrong with her, and told him as far as they could tell she should wake up any minute, while his medic-nin had no answers either; occasionally muttering things about unnatural chakra and curse marks. All they would say was that her vitals were fine and she could wake up at any second or not at all. None of the medics currently in the village had enough experience with neurosurgery to even try a chakra scan, apparently the procedure was far too dangerous for any of them to perform alone; without supervision they would most likely do more harm than good. They all lamented Tsunade's absence, and not for the Sannin herself but for her poor put upon apprentice; her skill in that area surpassed even her mentors. Shizune's knowledge of the brain was unsurpassed among all the hidden villages and her expertise was frequently sought out while she was traveling according to his doctors claims. Of course nobody could get a hold of either woman anyway so it really didn't matter. He'd sent several carrier pigeons out looking for them, as well as several nin-dogs, all to no avail; when a Sannin didn't want to be found, a Sannin was simply not found, they went completely off the grid. Without Tsunade or Shizune's help Anko might never recover, and without Anko to testify on their behalf, Itachi, Obito, and Kakashi would rot in containment forever, or worse, wind up swinging in the gallows.

To their credit all three boys seemed to be taking it in stride; all completely certain that Anko would definitely wake up soon, at which point she would exonerate them and they could take their rightful place as heroes for the village. Unfortunately this calm demeanor only served to provide more ammunition for their detractors, actually getting Danzo to decry, "It's obvious to all who gaze upon them that they are guilty of treason. Would an innocent man wait so patiently? No! A man with clean hands would thrash, and flail about, declaring his innocence at the top of his lungs. He would overwhelm his captor's ears with his howls of wrongdoing and protests of injustice. An innocent man's lungs would give out from his never ceasing cries of righteous indignation. That all three of them just sit quietly, waiting patiently for Mitarashi to wake up, something that we don't even know if she can do, but which it is certain they know she won't. They are guilty as charged and I say the sooner we hang them the better!"

Minato had bit his own cheek to keep from leaping on the old bastard and throttling him. As it was he was taking quite a bit of heat from the council for writing the ancient fool a citation for incitement of a riot, but he was remaining firm on this; Danzo would pay the fine or Minato would throw his ass in jail right next to Obito, Kakashi, and Itachi. That manipulative fucker could not be allowed a soap box for his hate filled rants or soon the masses would be calling for the death of three innocent boys. And Minato did believe from the very bottom of his soul, that they were, all three, guiltless of the accused crime. They might be guilty of something else, but he knew that none of the three would ever betray Konoha. They had all told him they were not the traitor and he believed them, but the man they fingered as responsible was just ridiculous and he believed something had been done to them. Something he hoped Anko would be able to shed some light on when she woke up.

Uchiha Madara had lived decades ago and nobody would believe their claim that he had conspired with the enemy samurai, even if they themselves believed it. Minato had brought in the Inuzuka matriarch and Hyuga clan head Hiashi during his questioning of them to determine the truth or to sniff out or catch a lie, but it had been the opinion of both that all the boys were telling the truth, or at least the truth as they believed it to be.

Unfortunately without Anko's testimony nobody was buying it. He really needed Tsunade-hime and her merry band of medics to come home. He swore to himself that the next time they were back in the village he was forcing Shizune to participate in the jonin exam. Once she passed it he could demand her presence in the village. An order like that wouldn't work on Tsunade, being in the village was still far too painful for her. She'd probably go missing nin on him if he demanded she stay. But he knew Shizune loved the village and hated leaving, she might even consider it a favor to be able to stay behind. Besides, now Tsunade had Rin as her new apprentice so she wouldn't be travelling alone. Wait. Tsunade had Rin with her. Rin was with Tsunade. Shit! Why hadn't he thought about this before?

Practically skipping with the excitement of his new plan, Minato ran down all 30 flights of stairs to the tower basement where the holding cells were located. The boys were all sitting quietly when he walked in but both Obito and Kakashi perked up instantly at the sight of him. They had all been forbidden visitors on the chance that if they were the traitors they could still provide intel to accomplices if allowed to communicate with anyone. Minato's was the only friendly face they'd seen since waking up, heck he was the only person not shooting daggers at them and wishing for their deaths.

"Sensei! Are we getting out of here? Did our lazy teammate finally decide to get her ass out of bed and clear our names?" Obito shouted loudly from his cell.

"No," Minato shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry to say she hasn't."

"Dammit," Obito mumbled under his breath, shuffling and kicking his feet at nothing in particular, just venting his frustration. He'd been sure she would be up already; in fact he had been shocked that he'd woken up before her. Their Anko was strong and tough and there was nothing he'd seen that could keep her down, or at least so he'd thought. He was fast coming to the realization that maybe she'd met her match, and it was entirely his fault. If he'd had better chakra reserves and he hadn't collapsed after freeing the Kyubi he could have helped her and maybe she'd be awake right now, insulting him probably, and maybe even hitting him, but they'd all be home or visiting Kushina and the new baby Naruto, or training, or hunting the demon fox together, instead of having the three of them stuck in these damn cells without Anko. From here they couldn't even see, let alone offer comfort to their teammate and best friend.

Before Minato could propose his plan he noticed Kakashi inching closer to the bars of his cell to get near him without Obito noticing the unshed tears glistening in his eyes.

"Ano sa, sensei," the grey haired teenager's soft voice scratched out despondently; so upset that he was no longer acting line an 80 year old man but actually showing characteristics of his teen age. "Anko's going to be okay right? She's going to wake up soon right? She has too, right? Right sensei?"

Obviously his students had been close to the girl, they'd all been living and working together in the same house and squad, but up until this moment, seeing the guilt washed all over Obito's face and the all consuming worry carved on Kakashi's, he hadn't truly realized how important the "crazy snake girl" had become to them. He'd thought nobody could be as important to them as Rin, but by forcing them all to live together he'd unwittingly turned three orphans into a family. And now one of them was hurt, they couldn't even go see her and it was killing them. That was it, Tsunade had to get back here and fix her up. Anko and the boys needed to get home.

"Where is your communication orb?" Minato asked without further delay.

"It's at home in Kakashi's closet," Obito answered. "But I'd rather not have Rin see us in jail. It will just make her worry. Besides we aren't allowed any communication devices in here. They won't let us use it."

"You seem to have forgotten that I am the much loved Yellow Flash and number one Hokage of Konoha, and I get to have things my way. You two are going to contact Rin and give Tsunade-hime my order to come home immediately."

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Standing on the balcony in the bright Ame sun, sparkling in the biggest diamond necklace she had ever seen, Tsume found it was next to impossible to wipe the gigantically idiotic grin off her face whenever she looked over at her mission partner Hyuga Hizashi. They were undercover in Amegakure, as a wealthy couple who'd recently be married, to discover the identity of the Kouukage. It was imperative for everyone to believe in their affluence if they were to get any information; wealthy citizens of a nation making a bid for a recognized kage would be called upon to lend financial backing, which would certainly gain them access to a meeting with said future kage. Hiashi and Tsume were to act like greedy children in a candy store. While in the Rain capital they would waltz in throwing money around (something Tsume was definitely enjoying since it was on the village dime) until someone noticed. Hizashi had actually provided the diamonds for the farce from his own family coffers and Tsume had in fact found herself jealous of the woman who would get to wear them regularly. They were exceptionally beautiful jewels especially if even the rough and tumble Inuzuka had become smitten with them, never one to wear things she labeled as frippery, these had her wishing she never had to take them off.

While Tsume was weighed down in gold and diamonds, Hizashi had been cursed with the humiliation of a little red bathing suit that resembled little more than underwear. Minato had argued that arrogant rich men wore Speedos; using the men he often saw at the onsen as proof. Hizashi had countered that those men were at a same sex spa where they would not be embarrassed by the ridiculous bathing attire and not a five star resort with men, women, and children present, to which Minato had replied that since most of the men at the onsen were overweight Hizashi's argument held no merit because he was in excellent physical condition with nothing to be embarrassed about. To this the shinobi had offered up the fact that as a Hyuga, branch member or otherwise, he was a wealthy man and would not be caught dead in the offensive garment. Unfortunately for the Hyuga, Minato was sure he was right and had pulled the "I'm Hokage and what I say goes" card and now here he was, outraged and completely uncomfortable, in a tiny red Speedo that had Tsume giggling at him with every glance in his direction.

"For this to work you need to stop laughing at me," the fuming man reprimanded her as he fitted bright blue contact lenses over his pale orbs. "We can't leave this room until you can look at me with a straight face."

"I'm sorry Bright Eyes, but I can't help it," Tsume said before laughing at him again. "You look so miserable ridiculous. If we're going to pull this off you have to stop looking so uncomfortable. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. You have a great body. Now you need to own it."

"I have repeatedly asked you not to refer to me as 'Bright Eyes,' and besides that we are on an assignment, our real names, or anything that could be used to determine our true identities are not permitted. Please use the mission code name Rex when addressing me."

"Okay, Rexy-poo," Tsume said in a sickeningly sweet voice while rolling her eyes farther than Hizashi thought possible. "Whatever my baby wants, my baby gets, especially when he is wearing his big boy panties."

"I am not amused by you, Yasu," he grumbled while wearing the most serious face she had ever seen, and she sighed loudly.

"Well you better start getting amused by me, because if you go out there being all mean and grumpy looking at your hot sexy young wife with those serial killer eyes nobody is going to think we're married."

"I was unaware you would be employing a genjutsu for this mission," he responded wearing the same somber face and deadpan voice he used when reprimanding her that it took a minute for Tsume to realize he'd actually made a joke. Granted it had been at her expense, but a joke was a joke as far as she was concerned and that constituted progress; maybe Hizashi could actually be a human.

"Haha, you're hysterical Mr. Sexy Panties. You just better make it look like you're drooling over my perfect body."

Even though he'd teased her about it, Hizashi knew she was right. Tsume was here to play the role of a trophy wife; beautiful to look at with nothing going on upstairs. In Sarsai, where their mission documents stated they were from, it was common knowledge that women were for being seen and not heard, and almost all of the richest men in the wealthy yet backward thinking town were married to young and beautiful morons, or at least young beautiful girls who could convince everyone they were morons. Tsume had protested playing an idiot and asked for someone else to be sent on the job but Minato had remained firm, so here she was. Secretly Hizashi was unsure if the brazen kunoichi would be able to pull it off. While it was common knowledge that Inuzuka Tsume was impetuous, wild, and crass, and generally an all around good time, he had never heard her name brought up when men were discussing which kunoichi got them hot and bothered. Not that he'd ever participated in such talks, he just happened to be having lunch in the cafeteria when others were discussing those things, and Tsume's name had never been mentioned.

Though she would never mention it, Tsume herself was having reservations about her role in this charade. She'd never been one to hold her tongue and doing so while pretending to be a moron was not high on her list of things she wanted to do, or even thought she could do. She'd been in the presence of rich, powerful, and arrogant men before and she knew the way they talked down to women, even knowing she was a shinobi had not stopped them from treating her like a piece of meat, and she knew holding her tongue was going to require an extreme measure of forbearance that she was not sure she possessed. Furthermore, she did not enjoy the skimpy wardrobe she'd been provided. Sure she'd admit she really, really, really wanted that diamond necklace, but she'd never be the type of woman who could parade around in these ridiculous clothes just to get it.

"Put your bathing suit on, Yasu," Hizashi ordered using her mission name again in an attempt to associate it with her rather than use mongrel or mutt as he usually did. "And take that necklace off; you don't wear diamonds in the pool."

"Okay Rexy-poo," she resolved to use that moniker the entire time they were here, knowing it would piss him off but still fit with the image they were presenting to the world so there would be little he could do about it. "Just give me a minute to change and we'll go knock'em dead."

Tsume grabbed her suitcase and dragged it into the bathroom with her. Flipping it open she surveyed her options and hated every single one of them. Fingering what appeared to be zebra striped string, she thought Minato-sama had to be kidding her, or maybe he had a death wish. Thinking about the ridiculous red underwear Hizashi was standing in outside the bathroom door and judging the hot pink floss she held in her hand she decided the Hokage definitely had a death wish, why else would he send them out with such ridiculous wardrobe choices. Two small triangles held together by a string that could malfunction at any time, or simply snap because it was so thin, exposing her goods to the world should hardly be allowed to call itself a bathing suit and looking through the rest of her suitcase revealed that every single bit of swimwear in it was a thong. She should never have teased Hizashi about the Speedo; this was going to be so much worse.

She had spent years cultivating an image of being just one of the guys. In the shinobi world there were very few well respected kunoichi, and other than Tsunade-hime, almost none were those their fellow ninja thought of as sexy or cute so Tsume had made sure never to be thought of as either. Only clan members had ever even seen her in a kimono (for formal clan functions only), and besides the father of her children only a few random drunken strangers in foreign villages had seen her in less than pants and her jonin vest. Even dressed in her full jonin gear Tsume had thought she looked too feminine when she'd first gotten the stuff so she'd insisted on larger pants (the original pair was too tight on her great butt and she hadn't wanted anyone to notice she had one) and always spent a good deal longer than she should tenaciously straining to bind her breasts as compactly as possible; on a good day she could manage to make it look like she didn't actually have any at all. Sure she often looked like a small man but her skill as a ninja was never called into question because of her looks. Having to wear this bathing suit was actually making her pretty nervous.

She finally settled on a simple black bikini. The bottom tied on each side, riding low on her hips, barely covering the gentle curve of her oh so perfect butt to hide only her ass crack, leaving her butt cheeks completely exposed (there would be no hiding it on this mission she thought despondently). She was glad Rikku had recommended that spray on tan before she left, at least she wouldn't be pasty and pale on top of practically naked. The top was little more than two small black pieces of cloth that barely covered her nipples. Whoever had done the shopping for this mission must have had her specs from before Kiba's birth, because she was still breast feeding her little pup and her boobs were practically falling out of the cups meant to contain them, for a brief moment she thought she might understand how Tsunade felt but then realized that even at their current size her own breasts had nothing on Konoha's princess's.

Tsume surveyed herself in the mirror and thought that she looked pretty damn good. Kiba had been born only three months earlier, and while she had managed to only gain 25 pounds (her mother had said it was far too much weight to gain but she knew many other women who had gained much more, people forgot about her excellent hearing and she'd heard Nara Yoshino complain she'd gained almost 40), it was taking more time than she'd like to get it off. She still had about 5 pounds to before she was back to her pre-pregnancy weight but at 5'4" and 128 pounds she still looked far better than most women; in her own humble opinion anyway. At 24 years old she'd already had two children and her small body had held up remarkably well, she probably owed that to her constant training and conditioning as a kunoichi but regardless of the reason she was in amazing shape. She noticed a small stretch mark right below her belly button and a little bit of cellulite on the back of her upper thighs but surprisingly overall she figured she fit into the entirely too small bathing suit quite well. While she still had her doubts about this whole thing, she figured there was half a chance she could pull it off. Slipping on a pair of black stiletto heels (Minato had insisted she wear the stupid things throughout the mission, as if they were synonymous with wealth and not strip clubs) she took a deep breath and walked back into the hotel suite. You have nothing to be ashamed of, she thought, you told Hizashi to do and now you have to "own it" as well.

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Waiting around in the stupidest bathing suit ever designed, Hizashi hoped Tsume would hurry up. He needed to get out of this mirror filled room before he went crazy. Everywhere he turned he was confronted by his more than half naked visage and if he never got to see himself ever it would be fine with him so long as he never had to see himself in a Speedo again. While all these mirrors were probably awesome for their intended purpose, spending time with your wife or girlfriend, he would have to say not so much for a mission headquarters with Inuzuka Tsume.

Noticing his own well defined muscles in the mirror Hizashi found himself once more worrying that Tsume wouldn't be able to pull off the part of a trophy wife. While she hadn't yet gotten the facial tattoos that would mark her as an Inuzuka, she was a kunoichi and her body, as far as he could tell from the giant coats she always wore, was most likely angular and heavily muscled like a man's. A look that he had no doubt did not scream trophy wife. The majority of kunoichi were heavily muscled like little men, only the pretty ones like Tsunade-hime and Uchiha Mikoto were ever assigned seduction missions or the like, and it was well known that Tsume had never been given any of those. Her face, Hizashi conceded, would have been pretty enough, despite her crude behavior and propensity for foul language he features were quite delicate and soft, but the masculine body she hid under all those clothes would not cut it and he hoped she at least looked decent enough that people would believe he'd married her. Arrogant though it might sound, he knew he was a very attractive man; people would not believe a man as rich as he was supposed to be who looked as good as he did would wed anyone homely.

As he was mulling over what to do when the crazy dog ninja fell short of impressing and indubitably failed at her task, she stepped out of the bathroom and all his doubts were put to rest. Tsume was by no means manly, in any way. Hizashi did his best not to stare but the woman's breasts were phenomenal, he would never have guessed she even had them, let alone that they were quite so amazing. Huge, and perfectly rounded, the bathing suit she had on displayed them remarkably well and he found that he couldn't take his eyes off of them. That was only until she turned around to grab a towel for the pool and he was treated to a view of the most perfect ass he had ever seen. He'd always been an "ass" man and hers was amazing; well toned, supple, and smooth. He wanted to run his hands across her skin to caress and give praise to such a perfect backside.

"I guess you won't have to pretend to drool over me after all," she interrupted his gawking to tease him.

Hizashi bit back an insult and even refrained from saying anything about how she shouldn't have teased him over his own lack of clothing. He was obviously entranced by her, something he was loathe to admit to himself but a fact nonetheless, and one that he thought seemed to amuse and interest her, if the sexy smirk she was giving him was any indication any way. She even began swaying her hips seductively as she stalked across the room to turn and wink at him. Being fully aware of how much fun ninja could have on fact finding missions such as these during their downtime, Hizashi smiled to himself as they walked out of the room and he thought that maybe those mirrors would indeed be awesome.

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Was it wrong to be feeling grateful that someone could be experiencing great trauma to the brain? Shizune definitely thought it was, and yet she was feeling it, just a little, anyway. She was extremely worried for Anko, who she'd held a soft spot in her heart for ever since she'd seen the younger girl summon a snake to bite Jiraiya when she'd caught him peeping on Shizune and Tsubaki in the bath house, something she herself would never had summoned the courage to do; even if he was a pervert he was one of the legendary Sannin and Shizune was far too proper to treat him with much less than respect. The poor girl seemed to always be in dire straits and in need of some kind of grand medical intervention despite her seemingly genius shinobi acumen. Shizune hoped she would be able to help her as much as everyone else seemed to think she could. Helping the girl should pose a challenge to her, which was where her excitement was coming into play. While she really and truthfully wished nothing had happened to the impertinent little kunoichi she was eager to tackle the malady head on. It wasn't very often that she got to hone her neurological skills, most ninja injuries involved stitching things back together, mending bones, creating new skin for burns, or repairing internal organs, and she relished the idea of undertaking something new. Did that make her a bad person? How could she perfect her abilities if she didn't get a chance to test them out, right? Shizune was sure she wasn't a bad person and resolved that no matter the cost to her own well being she would make sure Mitarashi Anko woke up from that coma to prove it.

Worried about the girl and terrified for her village at the mercy of the demon fox, she found that she was still glad to be going home. She, Tsunade, and Rin had been travelling for over ten months now and it seemed to her that it had been even longer. Missing her village had always been a problem for Shizune when out on excursions with her mentor but this particular one had proven to be extremely trying. She and Tsunade had been on trips longer than this in the past but never before had it felt like such an eternity.

Shizune always missed Konoha when she was away, on lengthier trips her longing for it had sometimes seemed like an aching in her soul so much was her love for her village, but this trip had been the worst by far. Tsunade's training of Rin, whose talent Shizune was in awe of and was sure would surpass her own, had taken them to beautiful and exotic locations in search of patients ailing from specific diseases that Tsunade knew would help in strengthening the girls' abilities and sharpening of her chakra control which usually would have thrilled her. Normally Shizune would have reveled in the fascinating foreign locales. Her curiosity was unparalleled and she always enjoyed visiting new places and seeing new things; she was not above abandoning the newest apprentice in a cramped hospital with their wicked taskmaster to lounge on the beach and work on her tan while Rin suffered through the exhausting process of learning from the best. She'd put in her time healing the sickly masses with the slave driver woman already, and for the severe cases or just when three medics would be necessary to help with an epidemic, she rolled up her sleeves and dug right in alongside her mentor and associate, but she could tell her heart just wasn't in it anymore.

Traveling wasn't new and exciting for her as it had once been, and the open road no longer held the appeal it had in her genin days. So while she knew Tsunade was still running from the memories of Dan and Nawaki, she didn't think she wanted to keep running alongside her. Shizune lamented Tsunade's loss of her little brother and felt her pain at the death of her uncle; she would always miss him but her period of mourning had past, now all she wanted to do was go home. She was young and ready to celebrate life (specifically life in Konoha) not run from it, and if her mind occasionally wandered to Ibiki and his magical hands and sweet kisses when she thought about doing that celebrating, well that was only natural. She was just a 16 year old girl with raging hormones after all.

When she'd left the village she had worried that Ibiki would forget about her. He was a good looking concupiscent teenage boy who just happened to be best friends with Shiranui Genma, the biggest flirt in all of Konoha, for crying out loud. It was not a big stretch to believe his eyes, and maybe his hands, would roam when she was gone for practically a whole year. Out of sight, out of mind wasn't how the saying went for nothing. Yet every time they stopped at Tsunade's postal box or got messages from home there had been a letter there for her, and while they weren't the epic manuscripts declaring his unending love for her that Rin received from that little Umino boy, one had simply read "Been missing you," they had been enough to quell her insecurity. Not to mention that the aforementioned Umino boy had done a favor for his beloved and spied on Ibiki for over a month with nothing to report. Not that Shizune had asked for this she'd even been a little upset that Ibiki's privacy had been violated, but Rin had taken it up on her own to request it and though she wouldn't admit it Shizune had felt a better knowing it.

Now she was anxious to get home. Seeing Ibiki again definitely topped her list of things to do, but even if he wasn't there she would have wanted to go back home to Konoha. She was a medic nin so of course she liked helping out the sick and injured people in the under populated hick villages they frequented while on the run from Tsunade's debt collectors but she was ready to put her talents to use healing their own. They were in the middle of the Third Great Shinobi World War at any rate, and she was more than positive her skills could better serve Konoha on the battlefield. Sure, what she, Tsunade, and Rin were doing nurtured good will for the village but right now saving her fellow Leaf shinobi lives should take precedence over making friends as far as she was concerned. Which was to say nothing about her offensive prowess, which was also nothing to sniff at if she did say so herself, and could certainly be used on the front lines. Shizune packed a mean punch (not quite as amazing as Tsunade's but there were very few people with enough chakra control to take down a whole mountain and Shizune's own was still capable of crater sized holes in the ground and felled trees, certainly enough to smash some enemy heads into a pulp), and she'd been looking forward to unveiling her new poison mist technique. It had taken a long time and a lot of work to create, but recently she had perfected it on her free time on this trip, a fact that made her finally feel confident enough to enter the next jonin exam, and the thought of releasing it full force (something she had yet to do for fear of killing innocent bystanders) against the enemy and finally getting a chance to let everyone see she was more than just Tsunade's shadow sounded very appealing.

Now only two days journey away from Konoha the reality of the situation at home started to sink in. When Rin had originally gotten the call from Kakashi and Obito the young girl's focus had been on her imprisoned teammates. She'd cried for hours after hearing the news that they could possibly be executed for treason and still occasionally broke down in tears as they raced home. Rin was a very sweet girl and Shizune had grown quite fond of her over the course of their ten month journey, but she was still pretty green when it came to the roll of emotionless shinobi. She was going to have to learn to steel her emotions if she wanted to be a field medic. The more she cried the more frequently Shizune dreamed of a world where she could just smack the shit out of the girl without a chakra laden punch courtesy of Tsunade knocking her through the trees. However, the closer they got to the village and all the damage they saw seemed to quell her emotional outbursts as the threat to their mutual home became more and more apparent and thoughts of her teammates fell to the back burner as she worried more and more about Konoha's well being.

The devastation of the countryside and small outlying towns of the Fire Country was obviously caused by the Kyubi no Yoko and it finally hit Shizune that returning home might not be as fun as she'd imagined in her head all these months. Looking at the still smoldering remains of a small trading village on the Kinpaku River, she was brought to the stunning realization that her home was in fact under attack. Previously Konoha had seemed to her like a shining beacon of hope in a dark world full of violence and bloodshed; the Village Hidden in the Leaves had always been an impregnable fortress offering refuge and sanctuary to all those who needed it. Having been born long after the Second Great Shinobi World War's end the idea of Konohagakure as anything but a longstanding stronghold of safety was completely foreign to her. She had never imagined there could be something strong enough to threaten that security blanket.

Sure, she knew that Konoha was at war and that the Kyubi had been summoned by their enemies, but until now it had been an abstract concept. Seeing the charred remains of what could have previously been a family, maybe even the very same family she'd purchased that large pack of gauze, cajuput oil, and camphor from at the start of their journey (they'd had that tiny red head freckled faced girl who'd begged and pleaded for a ride on Tonton until Tsunade had finally relented) brought it home and made it real in a way that hearing about it just couldn't have done. Her village was in danger, a demon was loose, and a traitor walked the streets of Konoha while innocent boys sat in jail taking the blame, and one of the most promising kunoichi she'd ever seen lay in a hospital bed comatose. The stark reality of it all made her want to join Rin in her vomiting at the side of the road.

Shizune felt entirely helpless. Against the atrocities this war was brining to her home what could she possibly do? Her brain started spinning entirely too fast and her breathing became rushed as panic overtook her. They needed to get home right now, they didn't have enough time, and Konoha needed them, even if there wasn't anything she could do. How could they hope to stop a demon? Konoha was finished. Gasping for air, Shizune fell to her knees with tears in her eyes. She didn't know what to do, this was too much to handle. How could they ever even hope to fight against the Kyubi when it had so much power? Her breathing becoming more and more erratic she had now collapsed fetal style into the dirt clawing at her chest while her heart pounded in her ears and raced uncontrollably.

Her mind focused only on the Kyubi and her helplessness she really had no handle on her current predicament. It wasn't until she felt the cooling sensation of medical chakra entering her body and easing her struggling lungs that Shizune realized she'd been having a panic attack; something completely unacceptable for a shinobi, especially one who was not even currently in battle. Feeling embarrassed at her unbecoming behavior she started to thank her shishou for bringing her back around. Her words however, got caught in her throat when she noticed Tsunade smugly smirking at her from over ten feet away. It was Rin who had stopped her panic attack and brought the world back into focus, and to whom she owed her gratitude.

"You feeling better Shizune?" Tsunade said with mirth.

"Hai, I'm fine now sensei. Arigato, Rin," she replied.

"Well then, if you can stop with the theatrics we can get you home so you can wake that poor girl up and get those three idiots out of jail. You think you can manage that?"

"Yeah, yes, I can do that sensei," Shizune flushed red with embarrassment as Tsunade took the lead on their return to Konoha.

"Don't be embarrassed Shizune-sempai," Rin's soothing voice calmed her further as they walked side by side. "I just threw up all over the side of the road, I'm lucky I didn't get it all over my shoes. Some heavy breathing is nothing."

"Thanks again, Rin," she answered, seeing the sincerity written all over the younger girls' face.

"No problem, you'd have done the same for me."

Thinking of her earlier desire to smack the poor girl, Shizune really hoped so.

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A/N: Hopefully I didn't lose my audience with the fluff in the middle but I've got a grand design and that was part of it. If everything goes the way I planned it will all fit in perfectly.


	22. Some Ill A Brewing

Chapter 22 – Some Ill A Brewing

Nimbly maneuvering his feet across the dry cracked earth of what had once been the Dekisui swamp, Shiranui Genma finally admitted to himself that he missed the damn thing. While the Dekisui had emitted a quite horrendous odor and the mud one would undoubtedly get covered in if their mission passed anywhere near the place clung steadfast to clothes while forever retaining the awful stench, it was still better than the current state of said swamp. The Kyubi had passed through here on its way to wherever it was going, and to say it looked different would be a complete understatement.

Where once the ground had been soft, soggy, and damp, grabbing hungrily at anything attempting to walk over it and drag it down for a good soak, it was now completely solid and hard. Cracks and deep fissures in the earth marbled the ground where the Kyubi had made a stand against some local farmers and scorched the ground with its demonic fire. Thousands of gallons of water boiling instantly, along with all the rotting compost, had left a foul smelling fog over the area, leaving Genma to marvel at the power the demon must possess to be able to accomplish something so vast, while at the same time being completely terrified of the beast.

So far life for Recovery Squad A had been going along quite routinely. They woke before sunrise, consumed their ration bars, and marched toward Furi-zu, keeping a constant eye out for any refugees in need of assistance. Lunch consisted of more ration bars, which they ate when the sun reached its highest point in the sky. They stopped travelling two hours after sundown and ate dried eel with rice for dinner, after which they slept so they could start and repeat everything the next day. Genma was bored to tears. Since setting out days ago his squad hadn't encountered anything even remotely interesting.

"This has to be the worst mission we've ever been assigned guys," the orally fixated teenager complained to his squad. "We should have been assigned to the attack squads. Then we'd see some action."

"Yeah? You think we'd see some action?" Oshira Tsubaki, the squad's lone female member asked facetiously. "Because I was thinking we wouldn't see much of anything if we were on the attack squad since we'd be freaking DEAD! There's a reason everyone on the attack teams are jonin, and it's not so they all have matching pants."

"While that may be the case for you my dear little mimizu*, I assure you, it wouldn't be the same for me. Let's be serious, I'm a tokubetsu jonin in name only, everyone knows I'm going to sail through the upcoming exams. Hell, I'm going to do so well they'll probably make me ANBU on the spot."

"If you call me that even one more time I'm going to rip out your tongue and make you eat it," Tsubaki growled as Genma chuckled lightly.

"He only does it because you let it bother you," Ibiki chimed in from behind them. "If you'd get over it he'd have nothing to piss you off about."

"Ibiki! That's blasphemy!" Genma mock shouted. "I'll always have something ready to piss off our little mimizu. Even if she manages to get over the fact that we caught her wriggling on the ground eating dirt, I've already got something waiting in the wings."

"I've told you a million times I was not eating dirt, and I was not caught in an "earthworm" jutsu? Why can't you let it go?"

"Than what pray tell were you doing mimizu? Because as far as I could tell you were eating dirt. And if you weren't eating dirt what were you doing with it in your mouth?"

"For the last damn time, I was not eating dirt or acting like a worm, that bastard Cloud ninja had just spun me around in the air and dropped me on my the ground. I was still spinning when my face hit the dirt, which is why I had dirt in my mouth. And if the two of you hadn't been so fucking drunk in the first place I wouldn't have had to fight him at all."

"She has a point Genma," Ibiki agreed. "If you hadn't told that ugly guy the reason we sent Hyuga's to kick his ass was that they could do it without actually having to see his ugly mug, he wouldn't have knocked your drunken ass out. And I wouldn't have jumped in heroically to save you, only to slip in that spilled beer and crack my head open on the bar stool. Which would mean Tsubaki wouldn't have had to step up to kick his ass into the ground, only to be spun into the dirt by the bastard's sneaky friend."

"Alright, alright," Genma waved his hands in defeat. "I'll never mention that again. Besides I overheard something way better the other day at the onsen while listening to the women gossiping on the other side of the fence."

Tsubaki's porcelain-like skin reddened instantly as she realized exactly what he'd heard at the hot spring. Generally a bit of a blustery hot head, the ebony tressed kunoichi embarrassed easily and clammed up at any mention of her personal or dating life, and she knew that's what this was about. She'd known when she let it slip to Suzume during their physicals that it would eventually get back to her team, but she'd honestly thought it would take longer to do so. Cursing her rotten luck, Tsubaki attempted to feign indifference.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said.

"Bullshit!" Genma guffawed. "You know exactly what and who I'm talking about."

"Well what the hell is it? Because I sure as shit don't know," Ibiki shouted, knowing from the look on Tsubaki's face that whatever it was, it was pretty much true.

"Well Ibiki, it seems that while you've been off pining for little Miss Stick-up-her-butt Shizune, our sweet little Tsubaki-chan has been carousing with boys. More specifically she's been spending quite a bit of time following that young guy, Kinjo Mizuki, around."

"Mizuki?" Ibiki stood stunned with his mouth hanging open. "Really Tsubaki? That dude is such a prick. He thinks he's so friggin awesome he probably won't notice you're even into him anyway. Don't waste your time on that pretty boy."

"He's right Tsubaki-chan," Genma added. "A man should not be thought of as pretty. He's too good looking for the ninja life; he must spend all his time grooming himself instead of training."

"You two did not just go there, right?" The dark haired girl fumed. "I've been on your team for years and if anyone can be called pretty boys it's the two of you. I seem to remember just last year Genma proclaiming, 'all the ladies love cool Genma, so call me L.L. Cool G,' and if I'm not mistaken Ibiki, it was you the genin kunoichi Spirit Team was following around trying to get a shirtless picture of for their bishi calendar. So don't you dare call him a pretty boy."

"It's not just that he's pretty, Tsu," Ibiki spoke from the heart. "It's that he's stuck up and self centered. He's not going to even notice you're interested in him, and you're going to get hurt. The guy is oblivious."

"Oh I wouldn't say that," Genma added with a cocky grin, and Tsubaki's face fell; she'd held hope that he'd only heard about her interest in the boy but it seemed he'd heard all of it. "I'm pretty sure the mouth she put on his dick was pretty hard to ignore."

"Ack! What?" Ibiki sputtered. "I'll kill him. He's dead. He shouldn't be touching you!"

"I'm pretty sure it was her doing the touching," Genma cackled in amusement, completely hysterical over the situation.

Tsubaki hated him and desperately wanted to punch him in the face. In fact she was just about to do so when she noticed a small smoking pile of debris in the distance that seemed to be moving.

"Guys!" she called out, interrupting their laughter. "Something's over there."

"It sure is," Genma whistled. "Looks like we finally found some survivors kids. This trip might finally get interesting."

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

Konoha's fourth and arguably most beloved hokage sat holed up in the tower vault where he'd been for five days with no idea when he'd actually be able to get out. He'd been meticulously going over every bit of information the village had collected on the nine tails and had yet to find any viable solution to the problem. He'd read that the Kyubi was a chaos demon with an affinity for fire, an she showed up every once in a while when called from her demon dimension, but that was nothing he hadn't already known, and he was still pretty much clueless as to how to kill the damn thing, if such a thing could even be done.

He'd searched archive after archive of jutsu and seals and still he was pretty much up shit creek without a paddle. He had come across a seal that could supposedly house another soul in someone else's body, pretty much rendering the housed soul useless, but he was unsure if it would be effective on a demon. He'd also come across a self sacrificing summoning jutsu that would call forth a shinigami who would kill your target, but at the cost of your own life. Minato had no problem giving his life for the village if it would save Konoha, but he couldn't be sure it would work and if he died without killing the demon, Konoha would actually be worse off than it was now.

Sighing loudly and blowing a strand of hair out of his eyes Minato wiped a bead of sweat off the end of his nose. All this research was getting him nowhere. The Kyubi still raged across Fire country, he wasn't spending nearly enough time with his newborn son, a new Kage was looking for recognition by means of destroying Konoha, his team was incarcerated, and Anko remained comatose in a hospital bed waiting on help that he was beginning to think would never come. Being hokage was nothing like he'd thought it would be and he wished, not for the first time, that the third hadn't chosen him. Unfortunately, wishing did little to remedy the situation and he had to find a solution where none could be found.

Minato shook his head in frustration. He could spend years looking through all this carp and he still wouldn't find anything because nobody had ever been able to do it. Well damn it all to hell than, he thought, I'll just do it myself. Sure he could keep paging through these useless pages and hope he found something usable, but Minato was a man of action and he figured he had a much better chance of creating his own way to do it than if he relied on everyone else. Screw that stupid demon; he was going to save Konoha.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

Scowling for all he was worth Baki wiped gently at baby Kankuro's face. The two year olds face was covered with red, green, and black scribbles. Red circles marred his cheeks and looped around his mouth in a cruel mockery of rosy cheeks and lipstick, crooked black lines reached haphazardly from below his lips down his neck and all the way to his chest in a pseudo-beard, and green surrounded his eyes completely, stretching from his eyelids to his forehead. Temari had stood proudly by her brother's side when she'd shown off her "bootiful wittle baby sisser."

Baki had to admit she'd been very sneaky; one day she'd be an excellent kunoichi. He hadn't even noticed she wasn't in her own bed where the two of them were to be taking a nap. After her big reveal he'd looked at her bed to see she'd stuffed her pillows beneath the blanket to resemble her sleeping form, before creeping into her brother's crib and covering his face with permanent marker. He was having a hell of a time getting it off the usually bubbly and smiley baby, who was now cranky and testy from lack of sleep and the irritation Baki's scrubbing was causing to his baby soft skin. To add insult to injury, the whole time spent washing the baby's face Temari provided ear piercing screeches and intermittent blubbering as a soundtrack.

"Baki NO!" the small girl screamed at him while stomping her feet. "I wanna sisser! NO BOYS! Put it back!"

"Temari sit down, do your coloring on your pad, and stop yelling," Baki replied calmly. He'd learned from experience that yelling at her never actually go her to do what you wanted, in fact it was sure to make her do the exact opposite.

"Baki NO!" she yelled again, though this time a little less forcefully. "I say no!"

Sighing heavily he was about to put Kankuro back in his crib temporarily to deal with the boy's sister when the kitchen door swung in wildly and the kazekage stood before him wearing a crazed expression. For the life of him Baki couldn't figure out if it was a look of rage or sheer joy, then the man's face contorted in disgust and he thought it had probably been the latter.

"What the hell is going on here?" his leader shouted over the still screaming four year old.

"Temari made a mess of Kankuro while they were supposed to be napping, so I'm cleaning him up."

So infrequent were her father's visits that they young Temari was pretty much unaware of his actual relationship to her, and certainly had no idea of his powerful position. As such she continued screeching through his visit and glowered at him when he told him to be quiet. Still it wasn't going too badly Baki thought, until his kazekage tried to tell him what his unannounced visit was for and the toddler screamed at the top of her lungs in an attempt to get her caregivers attention.

"Temari! Shut your mouth now!" her father bellowed in her small face, trying to scare her into submission. Baki winced, knowing this would not end well. The tiny girl was completely unimpressed by his loud mouth and show of bravado, she was used to listening only to Baki and he would never talk to her in that manner.

"NO!" she howled right back in his face and kicked him roughly in the shin.

"Shit," Baki cursed under his breath as her father smacked the little girl across the face hard enough to knock her off her feet. She now lay on the ground sobbing for Baki and shooting her kazekage an evil death glare.

"That is it!" the kazekage roared. "This experiment is over! You are a ninja, not a nursemaid and it is more than obvious that you are not cut out to raise children, and certainly not MY children. There are rumors that the nine tailed demon fox is attacking Fire country, tomorrow you will go verify its true. My children will be taken care of by actual nannies. Say your goodbyes to them tonight!"

"Hai, Kazekage-sama," he answered through gritted teeth and his leader slammed his way out of the house. Temari stuck her tongue out at him as he left and jumped into Baki's arms for a hug. Looking at her tear stained face and big watery eyes, he thought of the promise he'd made to a dying woman and he knew he couldn't leave her or her brother, and he'd sworn he'd take care of the other one as well.

With that in mind, Baki made preparations to leave at first light. He just had to figure out how he was going to get the littlest sibling out of that lunatic Yashamaru's clutches by morning.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review. Reviews make my day and really encourage me to get the lead out on the next chapter.

*earthworm


	23. Unforeseen Whammy

Chapter 23 – Unforeseen Whammies

Carefully concealed in his most meticulously chosen hiding spot ever, masked in the deep shadows of the Hokage's vast personal library, Konoha's Professor watched anxiously as his very young successor continued looking for a way to save the Leaf. He'd been working non-stop for days to perfect a sealing technique suitable for capturing the nine tailed demon. Shackled with both dampening bracelets and anklets, Hiruzen knew Minato would be unable to detect his chakra signature even at such a close distance so he was really only worried that he'd make enough noise to give away his location, which taking into consideration that he was Konoha's most recently retired Hokage, meant it was really no worry at all. He could tell the burgeoning young kage was very close to completing his jutsu and one step closer to ending the nightmare that had been unleashed by one of Konoha's own. In fact, after spending days watching the boy (and yes, he still thought of him as a boy, regardless of the fact that Minato was fully grown and had a child of his own, to Hiruzen he'd always be the little "Mini Ato" who'd been teased unmercifully for his tiny stature; often coming to list his grievances directly with the hokage, whom he had referred to as "the bossman," about maintaining protocols and implementing new disciplining procedures)create the process, Hiruzen was confident he actually knew how to finish it.

Konoha's first Hokage to reach an age at which retirement was an actual option, was also aware that the current Hokage knew just what had to be done to complete it as well. The fact of the matter was Minato was looking for a way around it when there was none. This particular sealing technique was an elaborate combination of an entrapment seal and a high level summoning jutsu. The design for the seal was highly detailed and intricate, Hiruzen was fairly certain there were only a handful of shinobi in the world who would actually be capable of using it, but that wasn't the problem. Where the real trouble came in was with the summons. Any shinobi worth his salt knows a summons requires a blood offering, and even a genin could tell nothing would come without one. You could perform all the right hand signs, conjure up a ton of chakra, and yell "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" till you were blue in the face but without a bit of blood to seal the deal, nothing would answer your call.

The summons Minato intended to use required something even greater than a blood donation. To seal a creature as wild and powerful as the nine tailed fox, a ninja needed help from something far more powerful than a mere human or even a boss level animal summons. Knowing this, the fourth's technique would, when performed properly, summon a shinigami. The real pickle is that for a death god to answer a shinobi's call, someone has to die. Hiruzen knew it, and he knew Minato knew it too, but he also knew the selfless young man had a beautiful young wife at home and a brand new baby boy as well; a baby boy he'd had precious little time to spend with. All things considered there was no way he could find fault with the young man for trying so desperately to find another way to destroy the village wrecking Kyubi.

Just as Hiruzen was certain Minato would wait one more day before putting an end to his sure to be fruitless endeavor Konoha's Yellow Flash sighed heavily and inked in the final directions for the summoning. With the last stroke of his katakana which would signal he was ready to die for Konoha, the youngest hokage yet exhaled heavily and slumped over in his seat defeated. Blanketed in shadows as he was, Minato's predecessor could see him clearly without chance of being seen and thought he'd never laid eyes on a man that looked more beaten down by his own choices. The boy's head drooped down low and his arms hung despondently at his sides as he began to weep.

Tears' first filling the young hokage's clouded eyes then spilling out onto his cheeks, running down his face in rivulets to end in small puddles on his lap. As his few tears turned to weeping and giant sobs began to rack his body, Hiruzen found he could make out some of what his young friend was saying and it broke his heart.

"Gomen nasai Naruto," Minato blubbered. "I am so sorry my son; I hope you'll know how much I loved you. Gomen… gomen… gomen…"

Konoha's usually stolid Professor fled the library with tears in his own eyes as his replacement continued whimpering "sorry" over and over again in a plea to his much beloved son. Once free from the building the crisp cold of the night air hit him and cleared his head; freeing him from his emotional response and allowing him to think with his head instead of his heart. Having done so it was now crystal clear what actions he needed to take. Konoha could not be without a Hokage in this time of turmoil.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

Recovery Squad C continued their blazing sweep of Fire Country; heading east toward Otafuku they would pass through the mid-size town in just a few hours and make it to Port City before nightfall. The next day they would turn south for a few miles before doing an about-face and making their way back west to Tanazaku, after which they'd return to Kurotori, for transport of any survivors Asuma, Kurenai, and Ebisu might have found. There was no other chunin squad that could have been given their assignment and oddly enough that thought made Mizuki smile.

Say what you would about Maito Gai, in fact chances were that if it was unflattering Mizuki himself had probably already said it, and there was no denying the ridiculously clad Green Beast of Konoha had the best cardio routine in the village. As many times as he'd requested to be placed in another squad, even Mizuki had to admit he and Suzume had both benefited from their crazy teammate's unfathomable dedication to physical endurance and speed training. They had done so much running that the hokage would have a hell of a time finding another three man squad that could match their speed, even if he included jonin in his search, and if the three of them removed their leg weights he wouldn't be able to do it at all.

Mizuki smiled again thinking of how much faster their squad was than any other. They'd been chosen for this mission based on speed alone. Nobody else could cover the vast expanse of land in less than even double the time in which Squad C was going to do it, and certainly none would make it back to Kurotori for the rendezvous. What had begun as Mizuki's deep hatred of the spastic giant eye browed freak at the time of their genin assignments had grown into a grudging respect for the unmatched hard work Gai put toward all their training, and finally blossomed into a bond of friendship Mizuki would never admit existed but without which he knew he'd be devastated.

Sure Gai was the most obnoxious ninja in all of Konoha, as well as the most embarrassing teammate to ever exist, and his absurd eternal rivalry with the imprisoned Uchiha was frequently the topic of comical locker room discussions, but he was also the most loyal, true till the end ally and companion anyone could hope to find, a fact that was made ever more increasingly obvious as Squad C was constantly engaging in physical altercations any time Gai heard even one negative word mentioning his rival Uchiha or Hatake Kakashi. If you happened to get him on a good day and he was feeling particularly honest, Mizuki might even let it slip that he and Suzume both believed that without Gai's insistent demands for more team runs and calls for adding even heavier weights to their already massive load, their stamina would have given out during the chunin exam right alongside everyone else. Gai's self designed cardio routine had been the deciding factor for their team's advancement. That year their team was the only one from any of the hidden villages to graduate, something Mizuki and Suzume both knew was due to their power of endurance, a direct result of Gai's patented "Youth Explosion Training." The fact that it had been on the market for quite a while and not a single other team had been able to actually complete it was a source of pride for the entire team and a reminder of all, they could accomplish when working together.

Unfortunately at this point in time the team was ready to be done working together. They'd already made three sweeps of their assigned area and escorted close to a hundred survivors to the relative safety of Konoha's walls and so far on this, their fourth run, they hadn't come across even a single survivor. The three of them were starting to tire and were ready to go home. Even Konoha's most indefatigable team couldn't keep up that kind of pace indefinitely, and their nerves were starting to wear thin. Squad C would be very happy when they finally returned home to Konoha and they wouldn't have to see one another for a few days.

"I cannot wait until we are done with this shit," Mizuki grumbled to Suzume under his breath so Gai couldn't hear. As much as he secretly liked the Green Beast, he was in no mood for a speech about how the power of youth can conquer all, and he certainly didn't wasn't to hear how unyouthful his behavior was. "I'm so sick of this running without stopping for days on end that I'd rather subject myself to a room filled with my fan girls screaming."

"Shhh… keep it down," Suzume shushed him. "I agree completely but we don't need caterpillar brows over there to here you. I swear if he has one more youthful explosion today I may use the strong fist attack on him just to see if he can defend against his own style. A Konoha Daisenko to the face might shut his ass up."

Mizuki chuckled at the thought of her using Gai's own technique to smash his face in. The irony of using the "power of youth" to shut up its biggest advocate was not lost on him. Continuing on in silence lest they get their jumpsuit clad pontificator all riled up, they were about halfway between Otafuku and Port City when he surprised them both and dropped out of a chakra infused run to come to a complete stop.

"My most youthful teammates I've noticed that due to the strain this mission is putting on our bodies you have been slowing down," Gai announced heartily.

"Now you just hold on a second Maito Gai," Suzume bellowed over his already loud speech and their third teammate cringed inwardly, when the two of them got going more often than not it was Mizuki who wound up with a migraine for the next two days and he didn't have any aspirin with him on this trip. Luckily Suzume did not often engage in shouting matches with their always boisterous teammate, unluckily she hadn't done it in quite some time and it looked like she was about due. "We've been keeping up with you just fine; if we're behind you at all it's only by about two steps! And maybe if for once you'd –"

"Stop now Suzume-san," Gai interrupted holding his palm straight up directly in front of her face, a move that was exceptionally rude but also incredibly effective Mizuki mused as he waited for her to unleash the Konoha Daisenko on their unsuspecting friend. "I did not mean to imply you were not keeping up. I only meant to make you aware that my discomfort at this time is so great that if mirrors your own. I'm sure you can notice that even my handsome manly features are starting to diminish after such a taxing mission."

_Whew… _Mizuki breathed a sigh of relief, crisis averted, but that had been a close one.

"Well what pray tell, was the point of that aimless little speech then Gai?" Suzume challenged. Shit, Mizuki thought, apparently his female teammate was itching for a fight.

At that Gai broke out his trademark tooth glistening grin, evidently not in the mood to argue, he ignored her antagonistic tone and answered cheerfully, "I thought you'd never ask Suzume-san. My point dear teammates are that if we take off half of our leg weights we can finish in half of the time, and we'll get some much needed rest all the more quickly."

Mizuki gasped. Had Gai just suggested removing weights when they weren't in a dire combat situation? Damn this mission was taking a lot out of them. Before Suzume could say anything and ruin it and change Gai's mind, Mizuki had pulled the straps to unleash half of his weights. As they crashed to the ground leaving a small crater in the dirt he already felt lighter, faster, more energetic, and just all together better. Mizuki's grin practically rivaled his teammates as he heard both Gai's and Suzume's weights hit the floor too.

"Onward my friends!" Gail blustered, his smiling visage sparkling in the sunlight.

"Destination Port City!" Suzume shouted, Gai's good mood contagiously infecting not just Mizuki. Grinning like lunatics the three of them made it to Port City in under two hours ready to flip around to Tanazaku as quickly as possible and head back to Konoha.

Slowing as they reached what passed for gates in the decimated town Mizuki could immediately sense something was wrong within its walls. Judging from their expressions Gai and Suzume felt it too. As Mizuki pulled two giant shuriken from the holster on his back, Gai brought out his nunchaku, and Suzume unfurled Johyo in anticipation of battle. Where there was nothing as sinister as the demon fox's chakra in the area, the air still crackled with a malevolent force that hadn't been there on their last visit.

"We should split up and spread out to find whoever is here that shouldn't be," Suzume suggested.

"I don't think we should," Mizuki countered. "We don't know how strong they are, and this mission left us tired. I think we should stay close to one another so whatever it is we can overpower it quickly."

"He's right," Gai agreed. "In this condition we won't survive a battle that lasts any length of time."

Suzume nodded in concurrence and the three of them leapt to what was left of the rooftops heading toward the source of their unease. As the neared the center of town it was more than obvious it was the epicenter for whatever was wrong in Port City. Dubious chakra hung heavy in the air and childlike screams could be heard across the rooftops. The closer they got to the high pitched cries, the less Mizuki wanted to know what or who was making them, especially as it became more and more undeniable that they were being made by children.

It soon became apparent that whoever was down there was killing the children one by one as their cries were cut off abruptly and did not resume. Afraid of what he might see, Mizuki's steps slowed as they neared the clock tower that would give them a good view into the center of town. Gai's steps on the other hand did the opposite as the green clad man practically flew up the tower than just a mere second after reaching the top he let out a thunderous battle cry as Mizuki watched him blast off over the edge.

Just moment after Gai disappeared from sight Suzume's cry of rage sounded and she too dove into the fray, her meteor hammer whipping through the air aggressively as she attacked the evil down below. Seeing his teammate's reaction to the scene in the square Mizuki was even more hesitant to reach the top of the tower and see what was going on down there. Knowing he had no choice he reached the top and looked down over the town square and immediately lost the entire contents of his stomach.

Below him the street was running red with blood. In the very center of the square stood a wooden platform that must have previously been used for speeches and town meetings on which five children now crouched huddled together as they sobbed for help. Below them countless bloodied bodies and appendages filled the courtyard, all of them children. The remaining five children only granted a reprieve from the slaughter by the unexpected assault of his teammates who actually looked like they wouldn't even need help to finish off the pieces of shit that had done this.

Gai in the midst of his righteous fury had removed the rest of his weights and was now nearly impossible to see as he flashed through the street destroying every adult that moved. Suzume's meteor hammer struck out indiscriminately and Mizuki realized that until that very moment he had never realized fully how dangerous his female teammate could be. Her johyo lashed back and forth at lightning speed, wrapping around those who had drawn the focus of her ire and infusing witch chakra to rip them apart like butter. Not a single one of their opponents were ninja and usually that would mean a Konoha shinobi would not use such a show of force, however the awful brutality of the crimes these scum had committed was not costing them dearly as Squad C showed them no mercy.

Having been temporarily distracted by the scene below him Mizuki had yet to enter the fray. His mouth still hung agape as he watched Gai pummel an opponent into the dirt, then perform a Konoha Daisenko to the man's skull that shattered it into hundreds of pieces. Finally the shriek of a child snapped him out of his stupor and Mizuki's shuriken cut a quick path through the sky to slice the heads off two crazed looking men making their way up to the frightened children. Soon his giant shuriken were whipping through the square with as much fervor as Suzume's johyo and Gai's nunchaku as the three of them lost themselves to the heat of battle.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

All alone in her head Mitarashi Anko screamed over and over again into the empty abyss and prayed that her friends would come for her. Isolated in the prison of her mind for far too long, she felt abandoned and alone, and tried only to hide from the monster lurking in the blackness at every turn. Try as she might she couldn't escape from it, regardless of where she hid, it always seemed to find her.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

Genma, Ibiki, and Tsubaki quickly covered the distance between them and the smoking pile of debris only to find nothing out of the ordinary. The hope that their search had finally yielded something interesting was quickly dashed and Ibiki cursed under his breath.

"Son of a bitch… I could have sworn I saw that pile move," Tsubaki said in disbelief.

"Maybe we were just hoping too hard," Genma offered in condolence. "This mission is so damn boring, now we're making shit up."

"It was probably just the fucking smoke playing tricks on our eyes," Ibiki grumbled. "A mirage or some shit like that. There's not a fucking thing out here."

"It's bullshit," Genma agreed. "This is a waste of our time. We could be out helping to fight the Kyubi or launching an attack on Kiri, instead of trudging through this desert that smells like a shithole."

"This has to be some cruel joke," Ibiki said shaking his head dejectedly. "The hokage must hate us or something. I told you giving Kushina a massage was a bad idea, now we're all suffering for it."

"Oh? So it's my fault?" Genma gaped. "I'm sure it couldn't have anything to do with you trying to steal Hatake's summoning contract so you could get a nin-dog to find Shizune. Or getting caught carving her name into the mission desk during the only shift you showed up for?"

"Neither of those is as bad as putting your hands on his wife you horny bastard," Ibiki countered as the argument heated up.

"There was nothing sexual about it asshole! The woman was six months pregnant for crying out loud, she was as big as a house, swollen and red faced, not to mention that she was farting like every ten minutes, so I wasn't even attracted to her. And on top of that she was carrying the child of our Hokage. How fucked up do you think I am?"

Before Ibiki could respond Tsubaki's angry voice entered the discussion. "Shut the hell up! I don't care how fucked up he is, which for the record is very; this mission is not a punishment. Do you have any idea how many teams wanted this assignment? No, you don't, because neither of you ever show up to actually do your shifts at the mission desk. You just spend all your time moping around missing Shizune while you chase everything in a skirt, and I pick up all the slack. Now I'll be damned if I have to stand here and listen to your shit about a mission that I had to pull major strings to get us assigned to!"

"You asked for this shitty mission?" Genma asked staring incredulously, while Ibiki, having the good sense to keep his mouth shut just stood sheepishly to the side.

"You're damned right I did! Maybe you two don't mind skating by on easy missions and wasting time on women and booze but I want to get promotions and be a respected shinobi. I'd just like some recognition is all, and I'm not going to get it if we keep taking all the shitty missions you two pick," Tsubaki vented.

"Alright, alright," Genma threw his hands up in surrender and started walking. "I won't complain anymore, let's just get going and get this over with."

Ibiki nodded and followed after him before adding, "And for the record, we don't pick shitty missions we pick fun ones."

"Oh no? Than how come I know that every time a call comes in to break up a civilian bar fight or do security for some dumb concert with no shinobi we're going to take it and if we don't it won't get done or they'll give it to a genin cell?"

"It's not our fault if other shinobi are lazy," Ibiki answered her.

"We can't help it if our sense of duty is greater than everyone else's," Genma offered. "We're just better than your average ninja."

"Bullshit!" was Tsubaki's beleaguered reply. "They're shitty missions that get shitty pay which is why nobody else takes them. They're a lot of work and aggravation for little money and even less prestige. You only take them so you can show off and get civilian women to sleep with you."

"Touché'," Genma smirked.

"Aargghh!" Tsubaki yelled in exasperation, using a concentrated chakra kick to send a small boulder careening into a burning pile of debris; the same pile of debris that they'd happened to think was moving earlier. Once struck with the heavy boulder it toppled over sideways to reveal its true nature as a hollowed out shell and expose two small boys hiding beneath it.

"Well I'll be damned, it really was moving," Genma laughed.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoX

A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review and let me know if there are any characters I haven't written about in a while that you feel are being neglected. I'm trying to keep writing about all of them but if I've missed one of your favorites please let me know. Thanks!! Reviews are love, please love me.


	24. Catching Up Volume I

A/N: This chapter and possibly the next two will be a little shorter and catch up on what all of the characters are currently doing, so as to make sure avoid everything getting too muddled.

Chapter 24 – Catching Up Volume I

Tsunade scowled as Yamanaka Fu strolled confidently down the hospital corridor behind her soon-to-be-former assistant. Shizune's replacement, Rin, sat beside her; anxiously chewing her fingernails down to the quick. Mitarashi Anko lie comatose in a room across the hall, and with the arrogant Fu her only hope of recovery Tsunade had little hope for the girl. After hours of brain scanning Shizune had concluded that Anko was stuck in her mind, caught up in a back lash of two S-level jutsu that she'd used during the attack on Konoha, the shock to her system had been too extreme and they needed a mind expert to go in and pull her out. Unfortunately, Fu was the only Yamanaka with any considerable experience currently in the village.

Tsunade knew of his close ties with Danzo and couldn't bring herself to trust the young man. Haughty and sharp tongued, as the old geezer's protégé, there was, in truth, little to like about the man, and the way he was smirking as he eyed Shizune up and down did little to change her mind.

Still trapped in a cramped cell with the recently whining and crying Kakashi, Obito crossed his fingers and begged the Will of Fire to lend Anko its strength. Today they were finally going to attempt to pull his kunoichi teammate back to reality and while he wouldn't cry like the "pussy-cat ninja" sobbing in the corner, he was extremely nervous for her. He supposed he wasn't as upset as Kakashi not because he cared for Anko any less, but rather because he was sure she was entirely capable of handling this. As far as Obito was concerned Mitarashi Anko was the toughest, loudest, bawdiest, craziest bitch Konoha had ever seen and there was no way she was getting beater just this yet. She had way more things to accomplish yet, hell they still had to get that snake bastard back for what he'd done to her. Itachi, Kakashi, and he were depending on her to exonerate them, and though their lives hung in the balance, totally dependent on their injured comrade, Obito didn't falter one bit in his faith that they would be freed. Anko had never let him down before and he was sure she wouldn't start now.

Baki crouched down low in the sand, the small bundle in his arms began to stir again and two small bodies clung to his legs, weighing him down more and more with each step. Killing Yashamaru, stashing the body, and stealing Gaara had been the easy part. Keeping three small children alive in the harsh climate of wind country might very well be beyond his considerable skill.

Danzo stalked stiffly and angrily down the long and windy tunnel deep beneath the village hidden in the leaves. His face contorted with rage as he choked down the bile building in his esophagus every time he thought about Fu, his own disciple, bringing that traitorous Mitarashi out of her coma. He hadn't ever wanted anyone knowing about Uchiha Madara, and he certainly didn't want everyone knowing this soon. That was a secret he had intended to carry with him to the grave, and now because of those meddling kids it would soon be common knowledge.

He'd ordered Fu to leave her in the coma and claim the girl was too far gone to bring back but the arrogant Yamanaka had refused. It seemed that the cocky hotshot refused to do anything that would cast doubt on his skills as a ninja, and especially his skill with his family jutsu. The puffed-up bastard was hoping for a seat on the Yamanaka council and wouldn't take any risks that would affect his chances. If he said it couldn't be done and that foolish upstart Minato waited for Inoichi to return to the village and try himself the older Yamanaka would do it himself; at which point Fu's mastery of the clan jutsu would be called into question and his shot at a council seat would be over. Danzo fumed silently in the dark caverns beneath his city and wished again for the Kyubi to burn that old fool Hiruzen's and his idiot protégé Minato's bones to ash.

Genma walked quickly through ht gates of the burnt out village of Furi-zu, as his eyes scanned the empty shells that used to be homes for any signs of survivors. Around his neck hung the smaller of the two boys they'd found hiding beneath the flaming debris; the boys' pale alabaster ski stood out starkly against his pitch black hair and he giggled as Genma hoisted him up onto his shoulders. According to the older of the two the boy riding shotgun on his shoulders had recently turned two, while he counterpart had reached the wise old age of five. They'd both had ninja who didn't return home one night for parents and had been living at an orphanage when the demon fox had roared through town.

As the adults fled for their lives the boys had been abandoned and the older one had hidden them under an overturned oven while their home burned down around them, and while they'd been born to different parents, surviving the fires of hell had made them brothers. It had taken the squad almost an hour to convince them to come to back with them to Konoha, and they'd only agreed when Genma promised they could train to become ninja once they were safely in the village. The older boy's name was Shin, and like Hatake Kakashi he had prematurely grey hair, he'd explained to Genma that he hadn't known the little one's name before the attack but since then he'd been calling him Sai.

Choza held back a flood of tears as he raced through the forest's of fire country with chakra speeding through his muscles and Namiashi Raido's limp form hanging off his back. The fool had taken a tail to the face when he'd knocked the Akamichi to the ground and out of harm's way. Initially the young man had seemed fine but as the poisoned miasma of the demon fox soaked into the wound Raido had grown weaker and then succumbed to the unconsciousness.

Before he'd gone out though, Raido had told Choza he needed to be more careful, "I already knew your memory was going, else you'd have recognized that damn Madara, but now your eyes are going too. You better get those checked out soon; Shibi and I didn't get you home early to see your kid be born just so you could die before his first birthday old man."

Choza prayed to the Will of Fire that he'd get the boy home to Tsunade-hime in time.

Uchiha Madara cackled with joy even as his burnt body steamed the water he'd fallen into and pain shot through every inch of his body. His skin crackled and split and burnt chunks of charred black flesh split and fell off his skeleton. Sure, he'd been in actual hell for who knew how long, there every second felt like years, but he'd made it back out and he would make those traitorous family members of his pay for what they'd done to him.

Stepping out of the shower Hyuga Hizashi caught a glimpse of himself in the bathroom mirror and turned to get a better look. Angry red scratches marred his back, and bite marks bruised his collar bone. He'd never before looked quite so beaten up and yet he'd never ever felt nearly as great. Glancing back through the steam filled room to the shower he watched the reason for his happiness emerge looking good enough to eat. Hizashi smiled, he would have to give Minato-sama his thanks when they returned home, but for now he'd continue enjoying the perks of his current assignment.

A/N: Thanks for reading and please send a review. Please, please, please…. I'm begging for them because they truly make my day. Thank you!


	25. Catching Up Volume II

Chapter 25 – Catching Up Volume II

1.

Yoshino lurched back and forth anxiously in the old Nara family rocker with her baby rocking wildly with her; the convulsive jolting doing little to deter the drowsy yet apparently hungry Shikamaru from continuing to suckle at her breast. Her own mood had never effected that of her child, and now was no different, even as she was ready to claw down the walls and pull out her hair with worry, he remained passive and calm.

She smiled down at her apathetic offspring and thanked Kami for his docile behavior; apparently poor Iku's baby was quite a handful and none of the Yamanaka's had gotten any sleep in weeks as baby Ino made demands for constant attention by the loudest means available. Not Shikamaru though; her son could sleep through a village invasion and always slept through the night, in fact she often had to wake him to feed him for fear he'd sleep his way to poor nutrition.

Currently Yoshino was beside herself. With Shikaku away on such a dangerous mission, which she was reminded of daily by the well meaning old biddy two houses down every morning when she collected the mail, she felt helpless and stir crazy. Sill on mandatory maternity leave, she was forbidden to help her husband and being cooped up in the village had her restless, fortunately Shikamaru had inherited his father's soothing presence and holding and cuddling him daily kept her from going insane. Every day Yoshino lit a candle in thankfulness to the will of fire that her boys were safe; without them she'd be a boat lost at sea. If Shikaku was her rock, the land at which she docked, than Shikamaru was the anchor that kept her from floating away in his absence.

2.

Rin sat in awe of Shizune. The young woman before her had managed to accomplish something that even the great Tsunade-hime had been unable to do. She had single handedly diagnosed Mitarashi Anko's condition and with a bit of help brought the young kunoichi back from the brink of death, simultaneously saving the lives of two of Rin's most precious people, as well as the little Uchiha boy, and she'd done it all without even breaking a sweat.

If she was being honest with herself, which she was, Rin would have to admit she was a bit jealous of her sempai. How could she not be? Shizune was everything Rin aspired to be and more. And when the very handsome Morino Ibiki swung by the hospital to pick up his girlfriend she knew her envy was out of control.

Rin wrinkled her nose as she tried to squash the green eyed monster before it got out to play and consumed her, but it was hard even if he hadn't gotten out, his thoughts now ran through her head. How could she ever live up to that? Shizune was the shining example of what an apprentice should be, and what an apprentice of Tsunade should accomplish. While she contemplated how hard it would be to hold a candle to Shizune, she failed to notice Tsunade's arrival.

Just than a comforting hand appeared on her shoulder, and looking up Rin saw Tsunade-hime's warm chocolate gaze as she offered an encouraging squeeze and reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about it Rin, one day soon that will be you. I don't want to take anything away from Shizune's accomplishment, she is an amazing young woman, but you're going to surpass her one day and then go on to surpass me as well. You're better than both of us were at your age. I can see you're worried about getting out of Shizune's shadow, and don't try to deny it, I know what that look means, because I once saw it on Shizune's face. Now try to imagine the shadow I cast."

Rin looked abashed; she hadn't even considered that Shizune had been in her shoes at one point as well. Smiling she nodded her head in understanding to her mentor.

"Just have some patience Rin, learning to heal takes a lot longer than learning to kill. Now why don't you go tell your friends that Anko's woken up?"

3.

Still trapped in a jail cell an unable to mold chakra or resume his training, Uchiha Itachi scowled deeply. He was almost positive he'd awoken his sharingan in battle right before he lost consciousness, but since he'd woken up he'd been stuck with the chakra draining shackles of Konoha's enemies, and without chakra there was no way to test his eyes and know for sure.

Deep in his heart he knew he'd done it and he was proud of himself. To have done it at such a young age was unheard of and Itachi hoped that when Fugaku found out he'd be proud, and maybe even impressed enough to forgive him this embarrassment to the clan. Though he highly doubted it Obito had taught him to be more optimistic and hope for the best.

Despite the fact that they had been labeled as treasonous criminals and denied any contact with anyone outside their cells, the Uchiha clan leader had managed to get word to his eldest son that he was by no means pleased with the manner in which the Uchiha name was being dragged through the dirt by his actions. Fugaku expected this from Obito, and in fact hadn't minded the older boy's involvement in the incident at all. Since the traitorous teenager had already been excommunicated from the clan his connection to the mutinous plot served only to prove the clan leader correct in his actions. With Obito on trial for treason his naysayers were quickly quieted down and get out of his way. Unfortunately Itachi's own embroilment in the seditious act left the clan's allegiance up to debate; something his father was most unhappy about.

If only he could prove he'd activated his kekkei genkai than maybe the severity of his punishment would be lessened. Itachi closed his eyes and willed chakra to his ocular passageways for what seemed like the millionth and like all the times before he felt the cuffs on his arms leach all of it away before it even reached its target. Breathing an exasperated sigh he collapsed heavily on his bed and slouched against the wall, taking solace in the fact that if Anko ever woke up, his constant attempts to mold chakra would not have been in vain; though unable to use the blue life blood of a ninja, he could still feel it within his bodies chakra coils and his own had expanded exponentially since his incarceration. Just about to lay his weary head down for a nap, he snapped back up to full alertness at Obito's shout from across the room.

"Anko's awake!! Hell Yeah!!! I knew she would be! That's our girl; we'll be out of here in no time!"

4.

Watching Kawano Teruo's back as her squad moved to intercept the Kyubi-no-Yoko, Uchiha Mikoto squashed the urge to smack the diminutive shinobi up the back of his giant head. With Namiashi Raido's heroic yet foolish stunt removing him from battle, Attack Squad 1 was being extracted from combat until his replacement could arrive and Attack Squad 2 was moving in to take their place on the front line. They would be facing an enraged demon fox so powerful its chakra could harm you long after it touched you, and her idiot of a teammate was wasting precious chakra on a vanity jutsu. She could not fathom the stupidity it took to exhaust one's most valuable resource during what was sure to be the fight of their lives on a henge that made the man taller. She had inquired as to the value of said jutsu hoping he had a plan that somehow utilized it, and might restore some of her faith in his ability as a ninja, but the moron had shaken his head and pretended he didn't know what she was talking about; as if her sharingan was incapable of picking up on his poorly done genjutsu.

To be honest Mikoto had no idea how this man could have gotten such an important assignment and she prayed to Kami his foolishness didn't get her killed. Meeting Fugaku and Hyuga Hiashi at the rendezvous point she noticed her husbands' almost permanent scowl deepen and Hiashi's eyes widen in disbelief while he did a double take, as if he couldn't actually believe what he was seeing, as they too took in Kawano's absurd squandering of chakra during an extremely life threatening skirmish. Her third squad member, Koto Tadeshi, shrugged when they all looked at him, sure he had noticed it too, but if Kawano refused to acknowledge it there was nothing they could do.

After exchanging critical mission information however, Fugaku apparently felt otherwise. Grabbing the smaller jonin's arm in a vice-like grip while the others walked past, his eyes spun red with menace and he growled threateningly, "If my wife's safety is put in jeopardy because a short, stupid idiot was wrongly assigned to watch her back I will end you."

Kawano looked stunned, but still chose not to drop the jutsu, and despite herself Mikoto smiled at her husband's overprotective nature. She knew Fugaku didn't want her out on the battlefield, he'd been angrier than a riled rattlesnake when Minato had named her for the second Attack Squad, and accused the Hokage of trying to eliminate his branch of the Uchiha clan. The young Hokage had stood his ground though (as she thought he should) and informed her husband that it was not his fault that Fugaku had married the most powerful kunoichi in the village and he would not take any more objections to his use of Konoha's finest shinobi in defense of their common home. Though the Uchiha clan leader was livid and tried to convince her to retire, saying the hokage viewed her only as a tool, Mikoto had taken it for the compliment it was and hadn't batted an eyelid. She worked hard for the power she had, and every bit of her strength had been hard won; she had no intention of giving up her status as an active shinobi. She loved her son's beyond reason (just the thought of sweet Sasuke asleep in his crib brought a light to heart, a spring to her step, and a reason to fight all the harder), and though she didn't want them to grow up without her, there was no way she was going to give up her right to keep that damn demon fox away from her precious boys.

After years of marriage she was fairly certain that Fugaku had thought her even temper and serene demeanor a sign that she would be weak and docile, forever bending to his whims when he'd asked his father to arrange their marriage. Unfortunately for him, her quiet poise and tranquil bearing hid a spine of steal and love of battle. Uchiha Mikoto would never be the bowing and scraping brood mare her husband desired, and that was just fine with her; a kunoichi of Konoha should always defy expectations.

5.

Lost to the crimson blood haze of battle, Maito Gai had long forgotten the purpose of his brutish onslaught. He, Mizuki, and Suzume feverishly continued their three man assault on everyone that moved with no thought whatsoever as to what had motivated them to do so in the first place. At this point the only things relevant to their actions were the locations of their next targets.

Adult civilians had become nothing more than prey for the three enraged and blood thirsty shinobi, even if they could no longer recall what it was they were enraged about to begin with. That there was no longer any rhyme or reason for the unrelenting barrage didn't make it any less devastating to those who fell to the assault.

It was at the moment he launched a middle aged woman across the street to crash into a brick wall with a roundhouse kick to her body's core, that something began nagging at the back of Gai's mind. Far removed from the situation at hand was an outlying idea that maybe he'd used far too much force for the purpose of subduing a civilian, and as he pulverized the skull of a forty-something or other blonde man it needled its way out of the obscurity of his subconscious and nudged its way to the forefront of his thoughts.

Stopping what he was doing for a moment Gai looked around at the carnage he and his team had wrought and almost vomited in the street. Bodies filled the town square as blood flowed like rain down the streets drains and barely a soul remained breathing. Around him, Mizuki and Suzume continued their aggression, heedless of the fact that they were almost out of their precious quarry.

Shouting at his friends to stop, Konoha's beautiful green beast tried to figure out why this had happened. He distantly recalled walking into the town in search of survivors but his memory was foggy as to why Rescue Squad C had turned into a three armed killing machine. In the mean time, Mizuki and Suzume stumbled over to where he stood, both looking as dazed and confused as he felt.

"What happened here?" Suzume asked sheepishly.

"I've got no idea," Mizuki answered. "Why would we open up on civilians like this?"

"I can't remember," Gai said despondently. "We've broken with protocol completely. Not only did we use extremely unnecessary force, we failed to subdue a single civilian, instead maiming or killing almost all of them."

"We couldn't have killed all of these people. Could we?" Suzume's voice rose in pitch as she attempted to take it all in.

"I don't think…." Mizuki began to deny their involvement guiltily, before sighting something and shouting in a clear voice, "Fuck no! We didn't kill all these kids! Look around; there are more kids than adults in the street. That's why we attacked! It's all coming back, we were on that roof over there, don't you remember?"

"That's right," Suzume confirmed, joining in his excited fervor. It felt good to know they'd had a reason for their radical event. "They were slaughtering all of their children. We had to stop it. I was so angry."

They had just about pieced everything together when a feminine shriek pierced through the air, quieting the ninja in an instant while they searched out the sound.

"There were five kids left on the podium," Mizuki said. "Where are they now?"

Another scream followed by a sob cut through the silence and Mizuki and Suzume began racing toward it. Gai had disappeared like a bullet shot from a gun at the very start of the scream. Rounding the bend of the town's main square he saw a playground hidden in the shadows of a large temple where three men held four children at knifepoint.

"No! Please!" a scared toddler's voice rang out from the back of the building just as his teammates came into view. Nodding to him that they would take care of the situation, Gai left the four kids in front of him to their more than capable hands and raced around the temple to find an obese hairy man with his pants around his ankles about to force himself on a small girl who couldn't have been more than four. Previously resigned not to kill any more civilians, Gai saw red, and as the man leered disgustingly at the child he decided one more civilian wouldn't make a difference.

Dragging the man out of sight he made quick work of the scum and returned to cradle the poor little urchin in his arms.

"Are you going to hurt me?" the girl sniffled as she looked up through long tangled black hair with crying blood shot eyes, and Gai's heart broke for her.

"Never," he said soothingly, pushing her hair out of her eyes. "My name is Maito Gai, I'm the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha, and I promise on the will of fire that I won't let anyone else hurt you either."

"Really?" she asked with wide eyed trepidation.

"Really," he affirmed.

A small half-smile tentatively crept across her face, and while it was by no means a real smile Gai figured that after what she'd been through it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Offering him a shaky hand she introduced herself.

"Thank you for saving me Gai-kun. I'm Tsuchi Kin and we'll be best friends forever."

A/N: Please review. They make me happy and a happy me is a productive me.


	26. Catching Up Volume III

A/N: After this chapter I plan to have only one more catching up chapter and then we'll be back to the regularly scheduled programming. Also, sorry about the numbering but seems to be eating my lines and messing up the formatting so it isn't clear where new sections are and this is the best I could think of to work around it.

Chapter 26 – Catching Up Volume III

1.

Tip, tap, tip, tip, tap, tap, tip, tap… Rikku's feet danced anxiously and without rhythm as she and Kotetsu sat outside the heavily guarded hokage tower awaiting the verdict regarding the fate of Anko's team. The two watched with a slightly malapropos amusement as Izumo lost yet another foot race to the surprisingly mercurial five year old Inuzuka Hana, and did their best not to laugh at his attempt to be a good sport about it. Though the genin was smiling serenely and patting his sensei's daughter on the back for her win, it was obvious to anyone who knew him that it was a false countenance. The skin around his eyes was pulled too tightly and his top lip was stretched far too thin for his grin to be anything but a ploy to look good in front of the rest of the crowd (which was actually quite substantial since everyone was interested to see what happened to the mighty Uchiha progeny). A small giggle escaped from Rikku's own genuinely beaming lips as she thought how much it must smart the mighty first born son of the Kamizuki clan to lose to the tiny Inuzuka, especially since it was quite obvious to everyone around them that he was putting in a fully legitimate effort. Unfortunately for Izumo it was becoming very apparent that there was no way in hell he was going to beat the wickedly grinning little rascal.

Kotetsu had warned him that he would lose when Hana had first challenged him to the race in an attempt to ease her boredom, but Izumo had laughed him off ("Pffft… are you kidding? She's FIVE dude…" he'd scoffed.). It seemed the resident idiot of Team Kick Ass had been spending so much time at the hospital hovering ardently over Anko's bedside that he'd failed to notice that Hana was now able to mold chakra almost as well as a genin. In reality, the precocious little imp had been keeping up with the breakneck speed of Inuzuka nin-dogs for weeks now, and as a matter of fact, Kotetsu was pretty sure the girl might even be able to keep pace with that lunatic Maito Gai for a couple of feet, if he still had his leg weights on anyway.

In any event, it was good for a laugh to watch the idiot get repeatedly trounced by the formerly obsessed little girl(apparently her new obsession was Uchiha Itachi, she'd exclaimed with pride that she, just like her mother, was only interested in "bad boys", which was why she was here in the first place). Rikku had wished they'd left her at home; Hana had been whining over and over again about how boring the waiting was, and though she agreed with the little brat, hearing about it non-stop didn't make it any less so. They had tried unsuccessfully to convince the young Inuzuka that she could wait at home in the comfort of the clan compound and Rikku would transport them home the second the verdict was announced so she would know the results before they had even been announced on T.V., but Hana was her mother's daughter and would hear none of it. She needed to know Itachi's fate immediately and there would be no swaying her once she'd made up her mind. Nobody, including those in attendance for the private proceedings could have guessed the trial would take so long, if they had people wouldn't have been sitting around idly all day, and at this point nobody wanted to leave. Someone could exit the building with the results at any second, and nobody wanted to be the jackass who waited around all day and left the moment before the ruling was made. To be honest though, if Izumo hadn't insisted they come here, Rikku would have just watched it on the news this evening and spent the day training. Wasting the day sitting around held very little appeal to the kunoichi, especially with the chunin exams coming up so soon and much work to be done on her jutsu.

At the beginning of the day Kotetsu would have said he was of the same mind as his fair haired teammate, but now, after watching Izumo's repeatedly humiliating defeats, he had to admit it had been a good day. Not only had he seen his usually smug teammate get beaten by a five year old, but he had seen his usually smug teammate get beaten by a five year old at least ten times in front of almost half of Konoha, and the pay from five S-ranked missions couldn't buy that kind of entertainment.

2.

Scowling deeply in dim candle light, the pale skin of Orochimaru's face contrasted with the shadows encompassing him and making him quite a ghoulish sight. Raging anger at his idiot spy contorted his face in a way that he hoped made him even more terrifying to his informant as he clenched his fists at his side to keep from strangling the life out of the moron in front of him. The man was mentally defective, but he had his uses, though those were getting harder and harder to distinguish. As far as he was concerned the man was inept as a ninja, good for nothing as a father, ineffectual as a sensei, and pretty much incompetent as a spy.

Orochimaru had come to this last conclusion at the start of this visit and as it went on, Nao made it ever more obvious that it was a completely accurate assessment. This particular sojourn had occurred when Nao discovered a tribunal had been assembled o try someone for treason and Orochimaru's former pupil was to be their star witness. This news was only noteworthy to the Sannin in that he hadn't known of her continued existence at all, which judging by the length of time she had been back in Konoha (time enough in which to recover her health and train with and become part of a team), was easily over a year. An entire year in which his bugling buffoon of a spy hadn't noticed, at all, that Mitarashi Anko, whom Orochimaru still considered the best of the Konoha bunch, was alive and well.

An entire YEAR! The snake Sannin had to physically restrain himself to keep from bashing the man's skull into the stone wall until his brain ran down the sides. Who knew how much information the Leaf had been able to pull out of Anko about his hideout location, and not to mention his work on the Ten no Juin was now easily accessible to those Konoha fools, and he wished he'd thought to include some kind of self destruct precaution in his only surviving test subject. He'd done a memory wipe on the girl but who could say how effective it had been. He'd had a one-in-ten success rate with that particular experiment, but who was to say that with Tsunade and Jiraiya to look at it, Konoha couldn't improve on it. At the start, Orochimaru himself had thought together the three of them could have cultivated and completed the Heaven seal in record time (certainly much faster than he was managing on his own), than refined and perfected it; a crowning achievement for Konoha's Legendary Sannin. If could have been their finest hour; used to create the most amazing army the world had ever seen, nothing would have stood in their way.

Now however, he was a missing Nin, and Tsunade and Jiraiya were his most significant enemies, and because of the worthlessness of his current spy, they could be armed with information key to his demise. The only thing saving the imbecile from instant death was his own ineptitude. Having just discovered Mitarashi's existence, he had rushed out of the village instantly to share the news with his master; failing to discover if the girl could be woken from the coma or not. Needful of this information and currently lacking any other spy in his home village, Orochimaru resolved to remedy the situation on his next visit.

Smiling for the surprise he would dole at their next rendezvous, Orochimaru gave his orders, "Kukuku, Nao, come back when you know what happened in the Forest of Death and the fate of my apprentice. Oh… and bring someone with you that you trust completely."

"Hai Orochimaru-sama. Sayonara!" Nao replied with naïve enthusiasm.

3.

Makoto watched with loving eyes as her two year old nephew attempted to stand up again for what had to be the millionth time in a row and once again toppled over onto his dough-like little knees. He is very fortunate that she insisted on the thick soft rug currently cushioning his falls to the nursery floor. The Hyuga elders had fought her tooth and nail on it, insisting that the hard wood floors throughout the compound were essential for raising good strong Hyuga's, but Makoto's husband was head of the clan and very much in love with his beautiful young wife. In the end she'd gotten her carpeting and the elders had gotten a dose of their own medicine. So what if she'd used her so-called "womanly wiles" and "underhanded techniques," as they'd claimed, now her sweet little Hinata would not be covered in bruises like the rest of the Hyuga children, and now neither would Neji.

With Hizashi away on an undercover mission for who knew how long, Makoto had volunteered to watch his little boy. Neji's mother had died on a mission shortly after his birth and Makoto hated seeing him with a different nanny every week. At first she had volunteered to watch the little guy in the afternoons and now she found herself watching him even more frequently since Hinata's birth. Though completely opposed to the juin markings on the Hyuga family branch members there is still nothing she can do to keep it off her sweet little nephew's forehead. However, she does hope that if he and Hinata grow up closely together they will become inseparable and her daughter will never dream of harming the sweet boy at her feet with its' activation. As far as Neji is concerned she has faith that he will want to protect his cousin-slash-sister out of love, regardless of his family status. If things continue as they are, as she wants them to be, she is sure that will be the case.

Looking down she sees Neji determinedly scramble to his feet again, a look of pure single minded focus on his adorably pudgy face, his brow is furrowed with concentration as she watches him take his first wobbly step without falling. His lips are pursed; his big white eyes are squinted and scrunched intensely with effort as he attempts to take a second. Makoto claps her hands in encouragement as he almost makes it, but at the last second he loses his tentative balance and stumbles back onto his chubby rump. He knows though that even though he fell, he did a good job and he claps his teeny tiny hands and bubbles up with laughter so infectious Makoto can't help but join in.

A few seconds later though and the mini Hyuga is back up and at it again. Up he gets and he takes one more step before he's back on his behind, only this time he apparently had enough and he rolls to his knees with a big smile on his face and starts crawling at his top speed.

"Ooh so fast!" Makoto exclaims with glee. "Where are you going in such a hurry my little Neji-chan?"

Not really expecting an answer from the two year old, Makoto is startled but exceedingly pleased when he rolls onto his bum, sits up, and points to the crib where her daughter is peeking out of the slats.

"Nata!" he shouts his first word with glee.

4.

Glaring daggers at the back of Asuma's head, Kurenai tried desperately not to throw a kunai threw the back of his skull. She'd taken up the rear of their formation, a spot that was usually Ebisu's but which was further from her chain smoking teammate than her everyday position. She could barely stand to look at the bastard and every time she did it took every ounce of her being to keep from leaping on him to claw out his eyes. Ebisu on the other hand was being a dear, and had won her eternal gratitude for his exemplary behavior. While usually her bespectacled teammate insisted on extensively following the rules to the Nth degree, from A to Z, this time he'd ignored them for her without a word and given up his designation in the formation before she'd even been able to ask for it.

Since she'd first caught that lecherous troll unabashedly flirting with Suzume, the bastard's behavior had gotten even worse and Kurenai had had enough of it. His bi-polar feelings of love had run her heart through the ringer for the last time. They could be cuddling in her bed, her parents away on a mission, his hands wondering to her breasts while he looked deeply in her eyes confessing his undying love and trying to convince her it's time they had their first time, early in the day and then later on she'd catch him giving his number out to girls at the dango stand. It never ended, she'd confronted him numerous times only to be called crazy and psycho. Once after spending a particularly lusty afternoon making out with him on top of the Hokage monument she caught him at Ichiraku Ramen fondling Maedo Yuku's derriere, at which point he'd told her he didn't think they had been dating exclusively.

A fool blinded by teenage love and hormones, she'd given in and believed his outrageous lie and taken him back, making it clear with no uncertain terms, that their relationship was an exclusive one. However, after doing so, she'd caught him not even a month later, kissing Nakamura Takara at a booth at the Spring Festival. Asuma had claimed he had only done it to make a charitable donation to a good cause, but she'd finally taken all she could stand and that had been the end. She couldn't trust the Sarutobi at all, and living in constant fear that he was off with some other girl while she wasn't looking was just too much to handle. Now she'd requested a squad change but with the events in the Forest of Death and the Kyubi escaping it wasn't really a priority for upper management and she was stuck where she was indefinitely; trying to keep from killing her ex-boyfriend while simultaneously trying to keep others from killing him all while doing her damndest not to even look at him, it was much easier said than done. Inadvertently, in her attempt to keep Asuma out of her line of vision, she caught a glimpse of something moving in her peripheral vision. Signaling her teammates for potential danger, she stopped and doubled back to where she'd seen the movement.

"Come out," she said authoritatively. "We know you're there. We won't hurt you; we're bringing all survivors back to Konoha until the fox demon has been taken care of."

Nobody stepped out and she was beginning to think she'd gone crazy because now that she was much closer to where she'd thought she saw the movement she now so nothing. Looking around extensively she was about to give up and chock it up to a particularly zealous leaf dancing in the wind, when she heard the distinct sound of a baby crying and her hackles rose.

"Kai," she released the well done genjutsu and practically yelped in surprise when a sand ninja appeared less than three feet in front of her with three babies in his arms.

A/N: I know I sound like a broken record, but please review, I promise to update more frequently if I get more reviews. The more reviews I get the more encouraged I feel and the more encouraged I feel the more I want to write to keep the people who reviewed happy. Anyway, thanks for reading, you make it worth writing.


	27. Catching Up Volume IV

Chapter 27 – Catching Up Volume IV

1.

Kushina rubbed her eyes and tried her best not to break down in tears as she gazed lovingly at her innocent little boy. Minato had just left the two of them for an impromptu meeting with the village elders he'd just called to explain his plan for saving the village. She hoped with all her might that all those ancient ninja had some super secret tricks hidden up their long flowing sleeves, and that faced with the possibility of the loss of their much loved hokage they would feel the need to throw secrecy to the wind and whip them out to save the village. She was pretty sure that it wouldn't happen though. Secretive though they may be, every member of the village council had great love for the Village Hidden in the Leaves. While they might bicker and fight amongst themselves like old biddy's in a henhouse all hostilities would be put aside for the good of their beloved Konoha. If they'd had any tricks in their arsenal that could save the Leaf they would have been pulled out by now. Any said tricks would have been used in a continual one-upmanship with the complete intention of being able to say they'd been the one to rescue the village and rub it in the other's faces. Her only real hope was that the council would refuse his request outright, and that was really no hope at all.

As she lost herself in dissecting the plan over and over again, searching for any reason why it wouldn't work, scrutinizing every detail for an excuse to strike his awful jutsu from the books, and futilely longing for proof of its absolute failure, Naruto captured her pinky finger in his plum little fist; dragging her out of her head and back into his life. He smiled up at her through brilliant blue eyes, gurgling his happiness at her touch, he sparkled like sunshine, and Kushina lost it.

Crumpling to the floor like a ragdoll she began to howl hysterically in anguish. Sobs wracked her small frame as she uncharacteristically wept for hours. Tears fell to the floor beneath her in droves; enough to soak the rug below her where the salty wet drops landed. Life was so unfair, just as she'd finally gotten the family, friends, home… just the plain existence that she'd always dreamed of Kami had decided to take it back. Fate was a cruel mistress indeed.

2.

Since being the informant with the knowledge that revealed an Uchiha as the mastermind behind that Amegakure attack and subsequent release of the Kyubi, Hayate had found himself in the very unenviable position of being super unpopular with much of the city. It seemed to him that while many people were eager to jump on the bandwagon to string little Uchiha Itachi up by his neck in the town square, very few wanted to even consider, let alone name, any of the elder sharingan users as the culprit. In his opinion, which in the current atmosphere very few people wanted to hear, it was due to a few certain things that nobody wanted to acknowledge.

First, Uchiha Itachi was not a well liked child. He was weird, very dull, distant, and anti-social; none of which did him any favors in the public opinion polls. On top of this already damning personality foible, his clan (mostly his arrogant father but certainly his pretentious clan members as well) had been heralding him as the second coming, bestowing unwarranted titles such as the "only elite ninja," the "next great Hokage," "Konoha's Great Hope," "Savior of the Village," and Hayate's personal favorite, "The Leaf's Champion," which was not only embarrassing for a little boy of six but completely damaging to his prospects for making friends. People did not want to believe the hype, and if they did secretly believe it they certainly didn't want him attending school with their own children and showing them up with his champion skills. So when he was accused of summoning the fox-demon the people of Konoha had been anxious to knock the boy down a few pegs, and they wanted it to be him; rallying behind Danzo and his cries for justice, the people of Konoha tried to punish him for their own jealousy.

The other reason Itachi was being stretched across the coals was that nobody wanted the transgressor to be a member of the much ballyhooed police force. It was fine to imagine that a six year old had the power to open a portal to a hell dimension and call forth the most powerful demon residing within, (Sure thing boss, I'll get just get that nine-tailed demon fox right now, no problem) but not a soul wanted to accept that someone responsible for their safety on the daily would wish them harm. On top of that, Itachi had been effortlessly captured and subdued (on account of him being injured, knocked out, and devoid of any chakra); taking on an adult Uchiha capable of feats such as those Itachi had been charged with would be no easy task.

Hayate had said as much, despite Yoga's suggestion that he keep his antagonistic ideas to himself, they were getting enough trouble as it was, and Iruka's advice, which had basically been the same but had been packaged with more smiles. Now he was the town pariah just as much as Kakashi, Obito, and Itachi themselves, except they had the benefit of being safely locked behind bars and he had to endure the daily taunts in person, as well as the frequent physical abuse, just the other day he'd taken a tomato to the back of the head. He could not wait to hear the tribunal results, now that Anko had woken up he would be exonerated and things could go back to normal.

3.

Sarutobi Hiruzen caught Jiraiya's eye from across the room and saw his own grief mirrored in his student's eyes. Konoha's third hokage had never experienced it but he'd heard that for a teacher, losing a student never got easier, no matter how many you lost or how old the pupil became. He himself had taught Konoha's Sannin; living legends, and the key word there being "living." While Orochimaru's defection and betrayal had hurt in more ways than he dared to count, the boy was still alive, which made it an entirely different kind of pain. Jiraiya had already lost two students, now he was being asked to say goodbye to a third, it hardly seemed fair.

Kushina hadn't made it to the meeting, instead choosing to spend the time with her son, and Hiruzen couldn't fault her for it. Nobody, least of all Kushina, would want to think about the tragedy that would befall Konoha in the next few days. His heart broke for her, Minato, and little Naruto and as the Hokage left the room he wished he could change things.

Over at the opposite table, without Minato there to see, Jiraiya's head hit the table, his face was hidden behind his crossed arms; no one would see his tears but not a person in the room could miss the convulsions in his body as he pain broke out in the only way it possibly could. At that moment something in him snapped and Hiruzen finally decided on something he had been considering for the past few days but up until now had been too selfish to commit to. It was time for him to join Konoha's other Hokage's, and he resolved to say his last goodbyes to Homura and Koharu, if he was lucky maybe he would get to see her fan dance one more time before he left.

4.

For what had to be the millionth time tonight, Tsubaki cursed her rotten luck. When Inoichi sensei had asked their team which one of them wanted the most important mission of the night she had of course immediately volunteered whilst Ibiki and Genma had appeared to slink back a step and hide in the shadows. Sensei had bestowed upon her the most important yet worst mission ever. So while her good-for-nothing bastard teammates would be out with practically every ninja in Konoha providing distractions for the demon fox so Hokage-sama could kill it with his jutsu, she was back in the caves beneath the hokage-monument guarding the lives of Konoha's most important resource.

Tsubaki knew how critical her mission was, and she truly believed from the bottom of her heart that what she guarded was precious. She, like every other Konoha ninja, had heard the old proverbs enough to know them by heart, "The potential possibilities of any child are the most intriguing and stimulating of all creation," "It is easier to build strong children than repair a broken man," and "Old men can make war but it is children who will make history," and she knew them well enough to know she'd been given a great responsibility. She just really wished she'd gotten a different one, or that she'd been given a little more help.

Shin, Lee, Neji, Sai, and Kin were all old enough to be getting around on their own and they were far more mobile than she would have liked. And yet she preferred corralling the walking, toddling, and crawling bundles of joy to quieting down and changing the younger more foul smelling ones. Fat little Chouji was continuously farting and giggling wildly about it, while Kiba kept smiling innocently than howling like a loud ass dog, which continued to send the other two into tears. Shino and Sakura had to be the biggest babies in the baby world. Every noise, big or small, set off the water works. Tsubaki knew this was to be the most important night in Konoha's history and her roll was important, if parents didn't believe their children would be safe they couldn't concentrate while out in the field, so she treated her charges with the respect they deserved and did her best not to wish she'd shut her mouth when sensei had asked for volunteers.

A/N: And so concludes the catching up portion of the story. The next update will be a return to the regularly scheduled story, something I'm anxious to get back to. Thanks for having the patience to stick with me and thank you for all the reviews you sent my way. As I said I'd update faster for reviews I've kept my word and here it is. It's a joy to write a story people seem to be enjoying, thank you for reading.


	28. The Dawn Will Break

Chapter 28 – The Dawn Will Break

1.

Standing on the battlefield in his freshly pressed, brand spanking new ANBU uniform, Obito is barely containing the pride he feels at being vindicated (it's taking every last ounce of willpower he possesses not to be all "In your face, Danzo!). Finally free of jail, he realizes he's forgotten how nice it is to be able to go about your business unsupervised, and he totally loves being able to take a piss in private again (it is beyond weird to have Uchiha Itachi observe and comment on almost every one of his bowel movements). Peering through the holes in his porcelain mask he can see the cobra faced reason for his freedom standing directly in front of him and once again he thanks Kami for his good luck and amazing teammate, no, not teammate, his amazing friend, without whom he knows he would be dead and Itachi locked in a hell dimension. Now, not only is he back in the good graces of everyone in Konoha (minus most of the Uchiha family, but he'd figured as much and was beginning to take joy in flipping them off every time he passes by the police station) but he he's also been promoted two steps at once, to his dream job and now he'll never have to take a jonin exam (for which he is eternally grateful, because if he's being honest, the thought of it had been freaking him out; his biggest fear being his failure in front of Jonin Kakashi, who passed on the first try at age 13, which now can never happen) and he's getting a pretty hefty pay raise to boot, which should help pay for all those damn weights Gai keeps making him buy.

Across the way, Anko has taken to ANBU like a fish to water, it's like she was born for the sole purpose of becoming an elite assassin. She doesn't appear excited about her new job the way that Obito does (he's practically jumping out of his skin), nor does she visibly carry the weight of the position on her shoulders the way Kakashi does (his shoulders slump like he's carrying the heavens themselves). She is simply calm and cool beneath her porcelain façade. She wears the uniform like a second skin; she already possesses the learned aloofness of ANBU twice her age and Obito knows that the Cobra was a more than appropriate choice.

Kakashi wears the mark of the wolf and its snarling visage is quite intimidating in Obito's opinion. In fact, he's honestly a little jealous of his teammates awesome covers and haughty demeanors (however, he will never every tell anyone). He's not sure he'll ever be able to pull of haughty or aloof, while the two of them practically breathe it. On top of that, he's been given the Raccoon mask. Sensei told him it was because he was mischievous and tricky in a fight, making him unpredictable in battle, but Obito genuinely thinks it's because people think he's a big joke. At first it bothered him but now that he's wearing the mask and standing in the sun with the other ANBU he finds he doesn't care at all. In fact, all that matters right now is that the demon fox is on its way, and he's part of the force that has to stand in its way.

Having already basked in the ill will of the Kyuubi's aura and not gone berserk on its demon miasma, Obito, Kakashi, and Anko have an advantage over practically everyone in the village, up to and including the Hokage. Other than the three of them, the only person so far to get close to the demon and not be affected by it is Itachi, and while the little guy tried to argue his way onto the battlefield ("I have already activated my sharingan Hokage-sama, which makes me better than most ninja, as well as the youngest Uchiha to ever do so. I'm not bragging, just stating facts, and I am, at present one of only four ninja to have gotten close to the beast without injury or succumbing to the psychological rage it inflicts, it is only logical that I provide assistance," he'd reasoned), Minato had given him a pat on the head and let him down gently; war against a demon fox was no place for a six year old, even one with a sharingan. Obito is actually kind of thrilled that the kid won't be there; watching him get practically pulled into actual hell by their crazed relative was enough for the older Uchiha to handle for a lifetime, and he doesn't want to see Itachi almost lost ever again, he still hasn't gotten over the nightmares of the first time. He's pretty sure his heart wouldn't be able to take it and just the thought of it brings a tear to his eye; big mistake.

"What the fuck are you crying about now you big pussy?" Anko's verbal assault begins. The bitch has eyes like a hawk and he's pissed that he didn't keep that in mind.

"I don't know what the hell you are talking about," he shouts back. "Now shut the heck up, we're not supposed to be talking while in formation."

"Do you think anyone gives a flying fuck you cry baby? Look around you, everyone is talking, dipshit. This could be our last day on earth; of course people have shit to say."

Taking in his surroundings he realizes she's right and if she hadn't just saved his life he'd wish he could punch her in her arrogant face. Damn, did she always have to be so damn smug?

"Maybe they're talking but I bet their being fucking friendly you friggen bitch. If this is going to be our last fucking day alive, don't you think you could take the time to not be such a cunt?"

At that one she starts laughing, "Why would I waste time on something shitty like that?"

Exasperated, Obito's just about to start ranting at her when Kakashi cuts in, "She's just doing it to get a rise out of you. She saw you crying and didn't want you going up against the Kyubi like that. If you're angry and pissed off you've got a better chance of coming back alive."

Turning away from Kakashi , Obit looks at Anko with question, not that anyone can see it being as how he's wearing a mask, but the kunoichi seems to get it anyway because she shrugs her shoulders at him and nods in confirmation.

"Relax yourself dickhead, he's right. It's my way of saying I care."

2.

For the first time since killing Yashamaru and stealing Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara from their lunatic father, Baki is feeling a little scared. He's in foreign territory and captured by potentially hostile ninja with absolutely no back up on the way. His plan had been to escape to Tea Country and take a boat to Taro Island where he could hide out and raise the kids without being found. He'd never be a ninja again but he figured he'd get over it. Doing right by their mother had outweighed the consequences of his decision. He'd thought that with the demon fox tearing up Fire country's northern borders all of Konoha's ninja would be occupied and he'd just sneak on through on a trading transport straight to Tea country. Which was why he'd gone so close to the damn Leaf city in the first place, otherwise he would have gone the more direct route along the coast and hopped a ferry over to the peninsula, but with three kids in tow he'd thought it more prudent to acquire transportation, not his wisest choice.

Unfortunately he had been spotted by a search and rescue squad out looking for survivors of the Kyubi attack. He had to give it to Konoha for mobilizing so quickly, they'd been very proactive in looking for survivors so soon after the attacks. Konoha's compassion for the people was commendable, Suna's own Kazekage would never have sent help as rapidly, if at all; he was not interested in the civilian population beyond what they could pay for shinobi missions. Baki had never expected to encounter any ninja and was unprepared for a response to the Leaf kunoichi when she'd discovered him.

Now he found himself being led back to Konoha, hands tied behind his back, ninja accoutrements confiscated, and children removed from his care. Taking into consideration his status as a Sand ninja he supposed it could have been worse. While Sand and Leaf weren't enemies per say, and they were not officially at war, Suna and Wind country had not yet chosen a side in the Great Ninja War (Baki was under the impression that the Kazekage was waiting to see which side would win before making a choice) and he could have been treated as a hostile, despite his nations neutral status. All in all he hadn't been handled that badly and the kids might as well have been royalty with the exceptional treatment they were receiving.

Gaara had been taken from his first, the one year old had barely protested being given to a stranger but Baki was pretty sure he was accustomed to being handed over to random people he didn't know. In fact, the only thing he assumed that was new to the boy was that the gangly kid in the glasses had grabbed him so readily without hesitation or reticence; easily hugging the infant to his chest and cooing at him in a most undignified way. Baki would bet money that nobody in Suna had ever treated the Shukaku's container like an actual baby, though Baki had doubts the boy would have done so if he knew what Gaara truly was.

Kankuro and Temari were both in the kunoichi's care. She held the boy easily balanced on her left hip while she held Temari's hand in her right. At two years old Kankuro was already a hound, probably the only trait he shared with his asshole father, and had immediately taken to the young woman. Taking in her wind tousled brown locks, soft curves, and slim frame Baki could see why the tiny boy was so smitten, if allowed close enough he too would like to rest his head on her breasts. Temari had been the only one of them to protest leaving Baki's protection when the red eyed kunoichi held out her hand to take the little girl's.

"No, I'll walk with Baki," she'd announced, oblivious to the fact that he was being captured, so nice were the leaf ninja. The woman had given him a look that said in no uncertain terms that he'd better get Temari to go with her or it could get ugly. Hoping to avoid such niceties he attempted to coerce his female charge.

"Temari, why don't you go walk with the nice lady, I have to talk with this gentleman and its grownup talk," Baki explained.

"Nope!" the little girl said smugly, like she was just about to teach him a lesson. "I don't wanna, and I don't have to. Back can talk to me, I all growed up. You said so when we left for our vacation."

Dammit! He had told her she was a grown up but it had been under extreme circumstances. He had told her he knew she could be quiet because she was all grown up when he'd snuck them out of the city. He'd used a sleep jutsu on the other two but he had thought it would be too awkward to carry all three of them. Now he didn't know what to say without angering the little spitfire. Knowing Temari like he did, he tried to think of something to make her go along with the Leaf team's agenda but he was coming up short. Luckily the woman seemed to realize it.

"I know you're all grown up but they're going to have boring men talk about farming and cattle prices, it's very boring. Why don't you come with me and I'll tell you what it's like being a kunoichi?" the woman said and extended her hand again.

"Kunoichi?" Temari's eyes lit up. In Suna, female ninja were rare. Her mother had been one but she hadn't been active since her daughter's conception and the little girl had heard stories of them but never actually seen one.

"Tell me! Tell me!" she'd shouted; jumping at the kunoichi and leaving Baki in her dust. She'd grabbed the woman's hand and practically dragged them away from her erstwhile protector and his bearded companion so she could hear stories from a real life idol.

At that point Baki was restrained and they'd begun the walk to Konoha. He'd been given ample food and water, been allowed to rest frequently (on account of the small children), and even shared a cigarette with the bearded fellow. Baki had thought it over, and he could have escaped, his bindings were loose and supervision was somewhat lax, but he'd not be able to take the kids without a big fight that he wasn't sure he could win, and besides, from everything he'd seen maybe Konoha wouldn't be that bad.

3.

Breathing heavily, Uchiha Mikoto's heart beat frantically and her mind raced with possible ideas to stall the beast. Currently her team had just fallen back to allow Team Ino-Shika-Cho a crack at it while they got a breather themselves. Sweat poured down her back as she stretched her neck to work some of the kinks out, while getting a better look at her surroundings. Watching from less than fifty feet away, they never let the other team out of their sight, against a foe as deadly as this one they couldn't afford to. Catching her breath for a minute she cleared her head and thought of a new idea.

"We can weave a chakra net," she shouted to her teammates Kato Tadeshi and Kewano Teruo. "We can lay it now and then spring it overhead when we get into formation. It won't kill it, but nothing will and it should buy some more time for the Hokage and his team."

Tadeshi nodded his concurrence and moved next to her to start laying the framework. Teruo had a nervous look on his face and she thought he might object to the idea but then he nodded his own acceptance and joined them at the net.

Battling the Kyubi was exhausting, physically and mentally. Mikoto's body was beyond tired and her muscles ached, but far worse was the mental toll it was taking on her. To fight the demon fox was to be eternally vigilant in one's own mind, one slip up and the evil miasma would turn you into a mindless killing machine, at which point precious chakra would have to be wasted by other ninja to remove you from the field. It had happened several times already that day and Mikoto hoped nobody else succumbed; they needed everyone and their energy.

Just about finished with the net, Mikoto almost lost all their hard work when she heard a shout from down below. Catching the net before it could slip through her fingers; she managed a look over toward the fighting. What she saw took the breath from her body. Yamanaka Inoichi's inert body lay on the ground spread eagle with no sign of life; Akamichi Choza who had been holding him was now slammed against a nearby tree, dazed and unable to move, while Nara Shikaku was charging from the shadows in an attempt to get to his blond teammate. Unfortunately the Kyubi had the same idea. The fox was barreling toward them; nine wicked tails whipping around setting fire to everything they touched. It was a gruesome sight and Mikoto realized she was going to be a witness to their slaughter.

"Now!" Tadeshi shouted, leaping to his feet and rushing toward the fox. "Use the net now and we can get Nara enough time to get them out of there."

On her feet in a flash, Mikoto followed as Tadeshi leapt in front of the demon, leaving her and Teruo to form the back end of the net's triangle design. Teruo was slow so Mikoto took the spot furthest from their location and they sent the chakra net flying around the demon. As the Kyuubi's chakra smashed into their barrier the force of the blow nearly knocked them off their feet, as it was they were knocked to their knees and barely managed to keep from tumbling to the ground. Through sheer force of will alone did they manage to hold their ground. As the demon howled and snarled against the netting Shikaku grabbed Inoichi and hoisted him over his slight shoulders, dragging him to relative safety. Still looking confused, Choza stumbled to his feet and began his own attempt to leave the area. Meanwhile Mikoto could feel every push and scratch the angry demon made at their net.

The nine-tails was pissed. From inside the barrier she howled and wailed, pushing with all her might to break free of the flimsy shell she'd been captured with. It wouldn't hold long and when it broke she'd tear the infidels asunder.

Mikoto's chakra was running low. They'd been fighting on and off for two days with very little actual rest and it was definitely taking a toll on her and her teammates. Maintaining the net was draining her chakra rapidly and she struggled to maintain her grip on the net. Knowing they were the only ones keeping the Kyubi from killing Choza she buckled down and forced herself to find chakra reserve she didn't know she had, insuring the net would continue to hold until their friend was out of the way. Over on the other side however, Kewano Teruo was doing much worse. Mikoto looked over to see his image shrink and then blink back to a taller height. Was he fucking kidding? At a time like this?

"Knock it off asshole! We need all your chakra right now!" she shouted loudly, for a moment forgetting her respectable Uchiha upbringing.

But it was too late. Teruo was spent. He lost his hold on the chakra net, and try as hard as she might Mikoto did not have enough chakra to compensate for the loss of his. The net collapsed. Choza paled, but Shikaku was back; swooping in to get his best friend out of harm's way. But nobody was quick enough for Tadeshi, who had leapt right in front of the demon when they sprang the trap, and Mikoto watch in horror as the Kyubi tore him in half.

A/N: Now that I've typed this up it isn't nearly as long as I had thought it was. Usually I would make a longer chapter but today I'm lazy so you're only getting this. I eagerly anticipate hearing your thoughts on this chapter or any other that you might feel inclined to comment on. Thanks for reading!


	29. Add Color to my Sunset Sky

A/N: I had a lot of trouble with this chapter; it just did not want to come out of head and onto the paper. Previously I haven't had trouble with these characters but in this instance I don't think they came out the way I wanted. So please excuse me if any of them behave out of character. I gave it my best shot and so as not to delay the chapter anymore I have decided to submit it as is.

Chapter 29 – Add Color to My Sunset Sky

1.

"Rex, my man, you are one lucky son-of-a-bitch," Imai Hiroki pronounced, thumping Hizashi soundly on his left shoulder to avoid hitting Tsume, who clung seductively to his right one. "That is one hot piece of ass you there if I do say so myself. Which I do."

"Why thank you very much, Hiroki-san, you say the sweetest things," Tsume answered in a sickeningly winsome tone that made Hizashi want to stick his head in a hole for her; despite the Speedo he was forced to wear the Inuzuka had definitely gotten the worst part of their mission, he had no idea how she was putting up with this jerk. "But I'd have to say that I'm the lucky one here. My Rexy-poo is just the best. He's gotta be the most charming man in all of Rain country, and don't you think he's just the handsomest?"

Hiroki gave Hizashi another pat on the back, completely ignoring Tsume as if she hadn't spoken, and yet he still acknowledged that she'd done so when he let this little gem out, "I told you so, that is one smitten piece of pussy you got there. It almost makes me think you might be able to give me a run for my money beneath the sheets, if you know what I mean. What do you say we switch off tonight and figure it out? My Usagi is pretty hot herself, you wouldn't be disappointed."

Imai nodded his head conspiratorially at the Hyuga and leered lecherously at Tsume. Hizashi could feel; his partner's body tense up against him and he could tell the other man was very close to having his face rearranged courtesy of the "hot piece of pussy" on his arm. This mission was not, by any means, an ideal one for the fiery outspoken Inuzuka. Being talked over and down to constantly, or otherwise ignored except to an occasional groping was pissing her off something fierce; far more than she had thought possible, which was not to say that she hadn't thought it would. To the contrary, Tsume had known this mission was going to try her patience and test her as a ninja as none had ever done before, there was a reason Hiruzen had not assigned her any seduction missions and contrary to popular belief it wasn't because he thought she was ugly. However, before she'd med Imai Hiroki she had been reasonably certain she was going to be able to pull it off. Now after meeting the bastard that certainty had flown out the window quicker than Jiraiya spotted at the women's bathhouse.

Imai Hiroki was absolutely everything that Tsume loathed in a man and she despised him immensely. He was a cocky, arrogant, domineering, sexist bully. He treated women like possessions, and worthless possessions at that. He never spoke directly to any woman other than his wife, to whom he only spoke to the way you would a child who needed reprimanding, but he could manage to feel up any female he found attractive in a 50 foot radius. He ordered the staff around like there were his personal slaves, and made outlandish demands (for example at a seafood restaurant he would decide he just had to have a Belgian waffle with fresh cut strawberries) and when his ridiculous wishes were impossible to fulfill he would berate the messenger to the point of tears, at which point he would chuckle and say something like, "spineless pieces of trash, that's why they're the have-nots." Tsume had dreams of peeling his fingernails off and testing the sharpness of her kunai on his balls, which she was positive were tiny, than she'd say something like, "whiney piece of trash, that's why you are one of the ball-less, hahahaha."

Unfortunately, Hizashi had learned early on in their trip, from Imai's "yes-man," Ohayashi Jun, that the asshole was the money-man behind the shinobi making a bid for the recognition of Rain as an equal to the Five Great Nations. It had taken a while, and a lot of money, but Hizashi had now warmed his way into the upper echelon of Ame's elite and he and Tsume were confident that they, no, that he, would soon be part of the "Kage's" inner circle. So far the only members of that circle he and Tsume are aware of are the aforementioned Ohayashi Jun, and their "muscle," Sasaki Isamu, but when he's invited to meet the Kage they'll be able to figure them all out. As far as Hiroki and his cronies were concerned, Rex here had more money than he knew what to do with, which was probably due to the seemingly limitless budget Minato had approved for the mission; nobody had pockets deeper than Konoha's coffers. Tsume got massages and pedicures every day (her skin had never looked so beautiful or felt so soft, a benefit Hizashi was taking full advantage of), and bought everything her greedy heart desired. She'd even bought ridiculously expensive gifts for all her students, basically throwing money around like it was san on a fire, and the right people had noticed. Though it was the goal of the mission spending so much time with Izai and his two henchmen was hideous and Tsume was glad that it was mostly Hizashi that had to do it.

Worse still was the fact that Hiroki had taken a liking to one Inuzuka Tsume. Not that he liked her as a friend, or even as a person. No, Hiroki liked Tsume like a tiger like a juicy steak. To him she was nothing more than a piece of fillet mignon for him to devour and he'd made it more than clear, on numerous occasions that he'd like to use his dick as a meat thermometer to test her out, than hand her over to Hizashi when she was done. Thankfully Hizashi had thus far been able to prevent any such shenanigans from taking place, but both he and Tsume had recently come to the conclusion that it was going to have to happen at some point if they wanted to meet the man in the shadows.

Frequently sent off with the "inner circle's" wives, it had been brought to Tsume's attention that they had all been "given" to Hiroki for a night and they had proved a valuable source of information. While what they knew was significantly less than what their counterparts knew, they definitely knew considerably more than their ignorant husbands believed they did; knowing this; the Inuzuka had pumped them for information that they easily gave up. Tsume had been pleasantly surprised to none of them were nearly as stupid as the men, and though she was loathe to admit it, Tsume, thought they were. In fact, Imai Usagi, Hiroki's beautiful blond wife was extremely intelligent. She was guilty of coming from nothing and wanting everything. Hiroki provided her an extravagant lifestyle she would otherwise be unable to afford. She had explained her situation to Tsume as thus, "He's not around much and I have access to five different credit cards on which I have no spending limits and every time I see him he gives me fistfuls of cash. I buy what I want, do whatever I want, and go wherever I choose, unless he's got some function he wants to show me off at. He's an insufferable fool but I see him so rarely that I don't give a shit. Once in a while I suck his little dick and in return I get a nice vacation. I can't complain."

Imai's "yes-man", Ohayashi Jun, had a delightful little wife. Teruko was a lovely red head with sparkling green eyes and an infectious laugh. She wasn't nearly as smart as Usagi but she was not the twittering idiot her husband thought her to be either. She came from old money and was the third and youngest daughter in a row and older sister of the much sought after dream-son. After waiting so long for him, her brother was the apple of her parents eyes, forced to endure three daughters before they'd finally gotten their prize they had pretty much just wanted her and her sisters out of the house. She'd been married off at just 15 and thought of Jun as more of a father figure than a husband. He'd taken care of her and bought her nice things, but they had little to talk about. She and Jun had sex very infrequently, as he suffers from erectile dysfunction and has been uncomfortable naked around Teruko since she once poked his belly while giggling and told him it reminded her of jelly. She doesn't care much because she's sleeping with the boy who takes care of their 150 gallon saltwater fish tank. He's much closer to her age and brings her pearls that he finds in the oysters on the ocean floor.

Sasaki Haru is the wife of Sasaki Isamu, the so-called "muscle" of the trio. He's short and stocky, muscular but not overtly so; Tsume is sure she could snap him like a twig. Out of the three of them, Haru has the best marriage. She actually likes her husband when he's not in the company of the other two, and he's always made her laugh. Haru and Isamu married before he got wealthy and actually did so for love. While she no longer loves him like she used to, she does have affection for the short man and won't ever leave him.

It's Haru who gives Tsume the two best bits of information gleamed from the wives and it's mostly by accident, at the time she received it she hadn't even been trying to get anything, she'd just been hanging out with a friend, which is probably how she got it in the first place. The two of them had gone to get their daily pedicures and then sit by the pool for a couple of mojitos. By the third mojito, Haru's lips were feeling more than a little bit loose. Feeling more comfortable around Tsume than usual, she asked "Yasu" if Rex had pissed himself after meeting the red eyed man; apparently Isamu had.

"What do you mean?" Tsume asked, her level of interest in the conversation suddenly spiking, this wasn't going to be the idle gossip she usually endured, but something critical to the mission. "Who's the red eyed man?"

"Isamu says he's pretty much the Kage's top spy or something. Maybe he said he was his bodyguard, I can't really remember for sure, but Jun can't stand to be in a room with him and he scares the piss out of Isamu, literally, hahaha," Haru cackled at the admission that her husband had been so afraid of the man that he'd been unable to contain his bladder. "Rex doesn't look like the type to get scared though and I was just wondering if he had wet himself too or if my husband is just a big chicken."

"I don't think Rex has met him yet," Tsume replied. "Maybe he will soon?"

"Well has he given Hiroki the okay to sleep with you yet?"

"No! Why would he do something like that?" the Inuzuka feigned naiveté.

"Because they all do Yasu. If they want to meet the kage; the man they've been funneling money to, which they all do, it means they have to do what Hiroki wants. And what Hiroki wants is to feel more powerful than the others, so if he's able to say he's fucked your wife it means he's got the power over them. It doesn't hurt that we're all a bunch of hot bitches. I don't know if you've noticed but the circle is small and all the wives are gorgeous. If a man doesn't have a wife Hiroki wants to fuck, he doesn't get in. Sure, they can donate to the cause but they'll never meet the shadow."

"But why would the kage allow something like that?" Tsume was appalled, that was no way to run a bid for kage as far as she was concerned. For a hidden village to operate there would need to be kunoichi and a kage would have to show respect for them, essentially pimping himself out for the benefit of an idiot did not sound like a man worthy of the title. "That doesn't help his cause at all. Think of all of the donors he's missing out on because they don't have the best looking wife, it's ridiculous."

"Usagi thinks the kage might be Hiroki's relative or something, but when Isamu begged me to do it he told me it's because Hiroki's family is very well respected and can sway the public to his side. If Hiroki decides the guy is unworthy he'll ruin his chances with the village populace."

Tsume was about to ask another question when she thought better of it and decided a topic change was in order. As a wife she was getting too political and Haru might get suspicious.

"So you slept with Hiroki and Usagi knows? Doesn't she care? I'd be fighting mad."

Haru laughed heartily. "Of course not, she'd just glad she didn't have to do it that night."

Tsume looked stunned and the other woman tried to calm her nerves. "Don't worry Yasu, he's not very big and he finishes pretty quickly."

At that Tsume almost spit out her drink. She could barely contain herself when she rushed back to the suite she and Hizashi were sharing. She couldn't wait to tell him of the certainty that Konoha's traitor was definitely an Uchiha. Walking into the dimly lit love nest the Inuzuka was elated until she saw the sour puss her partner was wearing.

"What's wron-," she started to ask.

"I punched him in his fucking face," Hizashi cut her off. Now Tsume was worried. The always polite, painfully so at times, Hyuga had never interrupted her and he never cursed, in fact much of their time together was spent with him chiding her for her course vernacular and poor manners. For him to use foul language something must be seriously wrong.

"What happened?" she asked, running to his side and beginning a rudimentary medical scan; as a vet she had some knowledge of the body, though nothing like that of a medic.

"Stop that," he said, pushing her glowing hands away. "What are you doing? I'm fine and you are not a doctor."

"Well I certainly know more than you, and besides, you're acting funny. I just want to make sure you're you. The Hyuga Hizashi I know doesn't use those dirty words," she replied; continuing to run her scan despite his protests.

"I'm fine! Knock it off," he argued; slapping haphazardly at her hands in an attempt to get her to stop. "Stop it!"

"Nope," she said laughing as she danced around his now wildly waving hands. "I've got to be sure."

Suddenly she was on her back looking up at Hizashi's handsome face before he kissed her deeply.

"Are you sure now?" he asked, smirking sexily down at her.

"Ummm… no, I think I need more convincing."

A few more kisses later, just when things were about to get interesting, Hizashi peeled himself off her with a very much troubled look on his face.

"What's wrong? Why are we stopping?" a rumpled and randy Tsume asked in confusion.

Sighing loudly Hizashi sunk dejectedly onto the bed, "I punched him in the face."

"Who?"

"Hiroki."

"Why?"

"He said he wanted to sleep with you."

"We already know he wants to fuck me, so why did you punch him for it?"

"There's no reason to talk like that Tsume. But today he told me in no uncertain terms that I would never meet the kage if I didn't let him 'fuck my bitch.'"

"Hey bright eyes, we had already suspected as much, so why did you punch him?"

"Because it's you and because he's a disgusting arrogant prick and I don't want his nasty little hands even touching you!" an emotionally Hizashi burst out. "And I most definitely don't want him fucking you."

Over on the floor Tsume sat looking stunned. From the moment they had started sleeping together months ago, shortly after Hizashi had gotten a good look at her backside, he had made it more than clear that it was just sex. Tsume was not to get attached and he'd repeatedly told her that once they were done with this mission they were done with each other. No feelings, no strings, no fights, no worries; just sex. And now here they were and he'd pretty much shot that all to shit.

At a loss for words Tsume just looked at him, and then she said, "Haru told me the informant is an Uchiha. You'll get to meet him tomorrow after I fuck Hiroki."

2.

All the koi in the family pond scattered as Itachi kicked another stone into the shallow water at its edge. Indignant and upset at the hokage for refusing to let him join the others in the fight to protect their home, he was feeling extremely frustrated and he had no idea how to deal with his emotions. Prior to meeting Obito, Itachi had been schooled, quite efficiently, in shutting off his emotions and remaining calm in all circumstances. Thought Fugaku rarely followed his own advice he had beaten it into his progeny, sometimes literally, that feelings needed to be suppressed if one was going to become a respectable shinobi, and back then there had been nothing Itachi wanted more in the world. Now however, things had changed. During their lengthy imprisonment Obito had taught him the opposite. To the teenagers way of thinking it was his empathy with others and ability to "go with his gut" (Kakashi had warned Itachi that this usually just meant Obito could be found in the refrigerator) that made him such a good ninja, and he had urged his younger counterpart to learn to do the same. Unfortunately now that he was allowing himself to be affected by his inner thoughts he didn't have the faintest clue how to handle them.

Anger flowed through the little Uchiha in waves, sometimes he'd feel close to boiling over and he'd want to punch people in the face, which he was handling by kicking rocks into the pond, and other times it was a steady simmer that found him sharpening his kunai and shuriken obsessively. Left to his own devices while others defended his home Itachi's resentment for those who had gotten to do so was growing exponentially. As far as the boy was concerned Obito, Kakashi, and Anko were his true family, and they, along with his birth parents, were all out on the front lines risking their lives to save his and he could do nothing to help.

"Ugh!" he shouted his frustration to the sky and kicked an overly large rock so hard it flew into the slightly deeper water at the middle of the pond where it thumped heavily onto the tail of a particularly pretty Showa Sanshaku (a black koi with white and red markings). Itachi could see the pinned koi splashing and squirming in an attempt to free itself from the offending obstacle to its freedom, but the rock was too heavy. Itachi scowled, unknown to anyone but his mother, he had a deep fear of water and could not swim.

There was no way he was going in that water, yet he couldn't let the fish remain trapped down there; it would die. He decided to roll the rock off using a tree branch and set about looking for a suitably sized one for the task when he was interrupted.

"What are you doing? Aren't you going to help him?" the young Inuzuka girl who had recently been following him around said hotly; obviously annoyed that he had not done so yet.

"Are you spying on me?" he responded full of self righteousness.

Hana ignored his question completely, "He's stuck under there and it's your fault, you shouldn't be throwing rocks in a koi pond you jerk!"

"It's none of your business what I do, it's my pond and I can do whatever I want," Itachi shouted back at her. "Get out of here!"

Despite the fact that he had intended to help the fish all along, he didn't think she had any right to tell him what to do with his own things and he wasn't going to let her think she could. Head of his class before his jail stint, Itachi had always been respected and listened to by his peers and his incarceration had only served to increase their reverence for him, so when he told the girl to leave he had fully expected her to do so.

Hana however, was an Inuzuka and even among her clan she was considered headstrong and stubborn. So when the arrogant Uchiha thought to throw her off his property she did what any self respecting Inuzuka would do. She marched over to her former crush and punched him square in the nose, just the way Kotetsu had taught her.

"Get in there and save that fish you jerk!" she shouted.

He couldn't believe it; the little girl had punched him right in the face. He hadn't even tried to dodge it because it had been so completely out of what he'd believed to be the realm of possibility that it hadn't crossed his mind at all. He hadn't even put up a hand to block the attack, and the element of surprise had worked in her favor. Now his nose was bleeding and the girl was still shouting at him to go in and save the stupid fish; he was having an awful day.

Still unable to swim, and now unable to get a stick to free the little bugger because the little hellion was standing in the way and was far too violent for his liking, he hung his head in shame and swallowed his pride.

"I can't," he told her dejectedly.

"Why the hell not?" Hana demanded, throwing in one of her mother's more colorful words for good measure.

"I can't swim."

"Hahaha," his tormentor began to laugh menacingly. "You don't have to swim; it's not even that deep."

Itachi looked over at her pitifully, completely ashamed to admit it to her, but also completely firm in his decision not to get in that water, he admitted, "I'm afraid of the water."

It took a good minute or two for the girl's laughter to die down but when it did she climbed right on into the pond and saved the poor struggling koi.

Climbing out of the water she'd smiled conspiratorially and whispered, "Your secret is safe with me."

Then she'd leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, after which she'd immediately taken off like a bat out of hell, giggling madly. Apparently his first assumption that she'd had a bit of a crush on him was pretty accurate.

3.

Judging by the way the teenager was staring up at him in awe, it was very clear he was in the presence of someone raised on tales of his exploits. He was almost positive that the boy had a serious case of Sannin worship going on. Not that Orochimaru could blame him, he was in fact the most powerful ninja he knew, and Orochimaru knew a lot of very powerful ninja. As a matter of fact he was standing with one right now. Kakuzu from Takigakure was one of the most feared shinobi in the ninja world, and at 69 years old and still a force to be reckoned with, it was rumored that he was indestructible and immortal, which was what had brought Orochimaru to him in the first place.

Some day he would know and perfect every jutsu known to man, as well as some that were not, but to do accomplish this he needed to live a lot longer than any normal ninja. So at the moment he was chasing down leads to everything and anything that could potentially prolong his lifetime, though ultimately he'd like to live forever right now he'd settle for prolonging his youth. Immortality was the driving force behind his current journeys, without it there would be no way for him to master all the jutsu and rule over the hidden villages.

His search for the secret to eternal life had led him here to Degarashu Port, a worthless trading village on the east side of Tea country. It was a dreadful place, home to nothing and no one of note; as far as he could tell they had no ninja and if they did the poor bastards were so inconsequential there was no reason to speak of them anyway. Their government was so provincial the ruling body was determined by a foot race every four years. Orochimaru had rolled his eyes at the absurdity of it all. However, it was the town's trivial place in the world that had brought him and Kakuzu there in the first place so he tried not to hold it against them. It was only in a meaningless sinkhole like this that two missing Nin as prolific as he and Kakuzu could convene without notice. As much as he disliked the contemptible little town, he liked being chased down and relentlessly pursued by ANBU even less; eluding hunter Nin usually put a kink or two in his quest for omnipotence.

Orochimaru found Kakuzu sitting in the back of a rundown diner on the less reputable Wagarashi Family side of town. Looking at the man for permission to join him, when the Sannin received a nod he slid into the booth alongside a dark spiked haired teenager who managed to both scowl menacingly at him and appear respectful at the same time. The missing Taki Nin wore a light colored hood that made looking him in the eyes nearly impossible but Orochimaru had altered his own eyes substantially and he was able to see the unusual appearance of the man. Under the hood, Kakuzu's skin was an odd shade of grayish brown that looked ashy and extremely dry, but what was more bizarre still were his eyes. Blood red scleras where the whites of one's eyes would normally be were surrounded by an unusually bright green iris, and he lacked pupils of any kind, leaving Orochimaru to wonder if he possessed a kekkei genkai similar to that of the Hyuga.

"So why is one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin out here looking for me?" Kakuzu drawled with mocking annoyance. "To what do I owe this great honor?"

Orochimaru did his best to keep his anger in check and refrain from giving into the taunts and ripping off the interlopers head. After all, if he killed the man he'd never get the man's secret for eternal life, or as close to it as he'd managed. Considering the circumstances it wasn't going to be an easy task anyway, executing the man would make it impossible. Shinobi, especially those of the S-class missing Nin variety, were extremely secretive about their techniques and fighting styles; and the secrecy magnified tenfold in regards to a ninja's jutsu. In a world where people were constantly out to kill them, a shinobi found it best not to give any pointers on how to do so. There were reasons nobody wanted to be in the Bingo book other than the fact that there was a bounty on your head. The damn thing listed all the skills and jutsu a ninja was known to use, and since the information was usually compiled by a former village, allies and friends, often ones who had trained with the ninja in question to perfect the jutsu, the information was almost always spot on. When other ninja know what tricks a shinobi has up his sleeves they can come up with plans and strategy to counteract them; just another reason for him to learn every jutsu in the world.

"I'm hoping to form a partnership of sorts. Once equally beneficial to both parties," Orochimaru explained.

Kakuzu laughed heartily at the suggestion. "What could you possibly offer me, snake boy?"

"More than this child you're traveling with I'm sure."

"That 'child' killed all one hundred members of his academy class for his graduation exam at just five years old and is right on track to become the next member of the Mist's Seven Swordsman. If he doesn't get caught hanging around with me anyway, Haha. That right there is the 'Demon of the Hidden Mist'. I don't travel with anyone who doesn't pull their own weight. So what the hell do you want?"

"I'm just looking for someone to travel with for a bit. I'm looking for a meteorite rumored to give inhuman chakra levels to those who can harness the power."

"And you want to share that with me?" Kakuzu sneered in disbelief.

"Absolutely not," Orochimaru admitted. "I'm willing to share it, one: because its located in Hoshigakure, and the only way there is through Takigakure which you are more than familiar with, and two: because it might be difficult to take from a village full of super powered ninja on my own."

Kakuzu seemed to consider it for a minute, than he nodded his approval and gestured for the Sannin to leave.

"I'll see you in two days when we leave," the green eyed freak said, and Orochimaru left the table pleased as pie.

While the meteorite could be interesting, it, like so many other things, was not what he was truly after, just a way to be able to observe Kakuzu more closely. If they ran into any trouble, he'd get a chance to see if the man really was indestructible, and if he wasn't, than he'd find that out too.

A/N: hope you enjoyed the chapter, please review. And if you feel so inclined head over to my profile and vote on which story lines you would be more interested in reading about, otherwise you are at my mercy ::insert evil laugh::


	30. Scars That Never Felt A Wound

Chapter 30 – Scars That Never Felt a Wound

Jiraiya's visage was grim. Shortly after that damn demon had torn poor Koto Tadeshi to shreds, Uchiha Fugaku working with his assistant Uchiha Yakumi and the promising young police officer Uchiha Inabi had managed to combine the power of their sharingan and temporarily trap the beast in a vortex. While the victory was short lived it had given the creature pause and the Kyubi had torn off in another direction away from Konoha. The shinobi were glad to have turned the beast from their home but still could not allow it free passage into neighboring ninja villages, or worse yet small civilian towns with no protection at all, so those with ample chakra were being led by the toad sage and had been sent after the biju. Their mission was to keep it turned from their home and at the same time herd it to locations void of people. If they could keep it contained away from human settlement and battle it out in a forest or an empty field the loss of life would be far less. Already casualties numbered in the thousands and with hundreds of them being ninja the cost to Konoha would be felt for years to come.

Following the monster had proven more difficult than the Sanin would have liked. While it was next to impossible to lose the thing, its wake of destruction left no doubt where it had headed and it's demon aura could be felt for miles hours after it had departed, the fox was far quicker than they could have imagined and traveling at top speed they were still at least an hour behind the damn thing. Looking at all the destroyed terrain Jiraiya wondered if the landscape would ever recover from beating it was taking at the hands of the Kyubi. Forests were burning in what seemed to be an unstoppable inferno, mountains crumbled, and the earth was ripped from its home and turned upside down. Those trees not turning to ash were flipped upside down, their roots now drying in the sun where once their leaves had reached for the sky. Just ahead of them the nine-tails had ripped completely through the great Mount Iwao, where he had once spent days training and goofing off in the shadow of the mountain with Tsunade and Orochimaru while sensei Hiruzen looked on in amusement, there was now a great chasm torn through the center of it the only things remaining were two crumbling spires on either side of the breach.

Passing through the gap in the spot of his childhood memories Jiraiya noticed something amiss in the rubble. While there was mostly brown and red dirt and rocks and too much dust to even contemplate how long it was going to take to get out of his hair, he was pretty sure he'd just seen neon blue and green lights glowing beneath the debris, and from the way others were looking around they too had seen something. Maybe they were wrong, but if they were right it was definitely something worth checking out.

"Fugaku!" Jiraiya shouted to the overbearing Uchiha, it was true the man was arrogant and often rude but there was no denying he was a powerful and capable leader that the Sanin could trust to finish their mission. "Lead the group, continue the mission. I'm going to check this out."

"Hai, Jiraiya-sama," Fugaku bowed, showing uncharacteristic respect for his superior officer, and took off with the rest of the team.

"Hiashi-san!" Jiraiya called over to the head of the Hyuga clan. "Stay here with me; your eyes will be most helpful."

Hiashi nodded and leapt to his side, "What are we doing Jiraiya-sama?"

"We, my good lad, are going to find out what those glowy lights are under there. Any possibility you know some kind of jutsu to get rid of this dust so we can get a look in there?"

Shaking his head in affirmation the Hyuga suddenly blasted out a large amount of chakra promptly spinning rapidly; creating a whirling vortex that made quick work of the lingering dust as it was blown up and away from the two shinobi. Jiraiya thanked himself for picking the Hyuga to stay, he was proving to be more than just a pair of eyes and the Sanin hoped he'd continue to be just as helpful, if they could figure out what was going on here quickly than they could get back to helping Fugaku and the rest of their squad subdue the Kyubi until Minato arrived.

Now that the area had been cleared they could see that the there were indeed neon lights emanating from what appeared to be a room in the side of the mountain about five hundred feet up from where they now stood.

"Can you seen in there?" Jiraiya asked.

"Byakugan!" Hiashi activated his family dojutsu in affirmation. "It appears to be a series of rooms with connecting tunnels running through the mountain on both sides, I assume they ran through the middle of it too before the Kyubi tore it down. I can see a lot of electrical wiring throughout the place and what looks like beds and maybe medical equipment. I think it may be a lab of some sort. We'll have to go in to get a better look."

When Hiashi said "lab" Jiraiya felt an involuntary shudder up and down his spine and the hairs on his arms rose up straight. The toad Sannin had seen first-hand what kind of things went on in labs hidden in the earth. In his experience if a lab was secreted away far from prying eyes than it was less like a lab and more like an evil lair for committing horrible atrocities against your fellow man in the name of science or immortality. Hidden from sight it was easier to convince yourself you were just doing "experiments" and people you were horribly maiming and torturing who were crying and shouting and begging for mercy, were merely "test subjects reacting negatively to stimuli." Jiraiya didn't know if he was ready to come across another hideous workshops, the last one had scarred him far more than he ever wanted to admit, and he was pretty sure there was nothing else this could be.

Sighing heavily the Sannin shook off his reservations, pulled himself together, and grinned at the Hyuga, "You ready to go in? Let's do this."

Utilizing chakra to anchor themselves vertically the shinobi began their ascent up the highly unstable and still crumbling mountainside. About halfway up Hiashi found himself sliding right back down on a river of tumbling rock when he took a misstep onto an unsettled patch of stone and inadvertently set off a landslide of the precarious detritus left in the demons' wake. Much to Jiraiya's surprise, while the Sannin was deciding the best way to save his companion from a pancake ending, the Hyuga managed to save himself through a series of acrobatic maneuvers, using the larger stone fragments to leap and spin himself back up the mountain to his spot at his comrades' side.

"Impressive," Jiraiya praised the young man.

Hiashi smirked slyly in response and they finished their climb to the lab without incident.

Once inside though it was another story. Jiraiya choked down rising bile in his throat as they entered the first room off the tunnel. This was indeed another evil lair in fact, he was pretty sure it was one belonging to his lost teammate. The sterile condition of the equipment reeked of the snake Sannin and the young man cut open on the table, his skin peeled back to reveal his intestines, and the look of horror on his face at what was most definitely a vivisection without anesthesia screamed Orochimaru. Jiraiya filled with rage at the thought of his former teammate, the man was pure evil as far as he was concerned. Visions of the previous lab he and Tsunade had helped the Third dismantle came to his head unbidden and Jiraiya preyed to Kami that this one would be far less gruesome, though with what he was currently looking at he held little hope for it. To his right Hiashi looked about as ready to throw up as Jiraiya felt, to his benefit he seemed to be holding up better than both he and Tsunade had on their first viewing of Orochimaru's despicable work.

"Do you think anyone is alive in here?" the Hyuga asked with disgust in his voice. It was obvious the young man did not want to continue looking through this loathsome hideaway, and Jiraiya couldn't say he blamed him, especially taking into consideration his last experience in one of these places, but they had to continue. If anyone was left alive in this place they deserved to be rescued after what they had been put through.

"It's possible, Orochimaru kept most of his captives alive until he couldn't find any other use for them. I imagine little has changed."

Hearts heavy with the knowledge that those who had found their way into Orochimaru's cave of horrors had most likely suffered unspeakable pain and torture before they met their ends the two shinobi continued picking their way through the intricate cave system. After the first three rooms where they found subjects cut up in various states of decay they discovered this side of the mountain must have been used to for the snake sannin's personal quarters. While they found a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and library, once past a long hallway from the third torture room through a very thick wooden door they found no evidence of the torture that occurred beyond it. However in the library they did find notebooks full of his "research" and a basic schematic of the mountain. It looked like most of the test subjects had been housed in the center of the mountain, where Orochimaru thought them to be the most safe from anyone attempting a rescue and also the most difficult to escape from. The winding tunnels and dead ends built into the mountain would have made it next to impossible for someone to find their way out. Without Hiashi's eyes Jiraiya doubted he himself could have made it out expeditiously. Unfortunately it seemed that if anyone had been alive the Kyubi had taken care of it.

Jiraiya was about to call it a day when Hiashi brought his attention to what looked like cells on the other side of the mountain that housed what Orochimaru had noted simply as "Project Senju". Of course that didn't mean anyone was alive but the shinobi decided they owed to all the other "projects" that hadn't survived the demon's attack to at least take a quick look. With the help of Hiashi's Byakugan they moved swiftly back through the tunnels and out through the hole they had come in. Back down the mountain and immediately up the mountain again, they moved nimbly over the unbalanced rocks and found an entrance into the other side that they had previously missed. Coming upon the first examination room in this side of the mountain they found what would be their first survivor.

The young man was tied to a hospital gurney, his head held down extra tight with a thick brown belt-like strap, his eye lids were held open with pins that had been clipped to his own flesh. What looked like red watercolors painted down his face were blood trails diluted with tears that had long since gone dry. Unable to create anymore tears with his eyelids pinned as they were the sclera of his eye were not longer white at all, veiny and bloodshot his nearly completely black iris sat on a yellowed dry eye. His mouth was gagged and as Jiraiya and Hiashi entered the room the man tried futilely to scream. He was terrified, and Jiraiya could only suppose that Orochimaru was not the only one conducting experiments on the people trapped in this place of horror. Hopefully the other "scientists" had all been destroyed in the Kyubi attack with the poor prisoners they had tortured.

"Calm down, relax," Hiashi said in a surprisingly soothing voice as he moved toward the captive. "We're going to get you out of here, but you have to remain still so we don't hurt you further."

Hiashi's hand began to glow with chakra and the almost calm man began to struggle and breathe heavily as he attempted to get away.

"What are you doing?" Jiraiya shouted. Couldn't he see the man was terrified?

"I'm going to hit a nerve with the juken so he won't feel it when we pull out these pins. He may be scared now but he will feel instant relief once I do it," Hiashi explained. Without another word he quickly tapped the man's head right below his temples on both sides of his face and the boy's body once extremely ridged with pain visibly relaxed. From there they made short work of the needles, untied the prisoner from the table, and removed the gag from his mouth. Having been gagged for an indeterminate amount of time he was having difficulty talking due to the dryness of his mouth, and the words that did manage to come out made little sense. Chocking it up to shock Hiashi utilized the juken to put him to sleep, Jiraiya hoisted him upon his back and they continued into the cave.

This side of the mountain had decidedly less excavation. The tunnels were short and straight with no dead ends and few room; very unlike the long winding maze of corridors they'd found on the other side. At the end of a single slightly windy tunnel, the only one on that side of the mountain at all, they found a large thick steel door with a several large locks in place. Fortunately Jiraiya had some tricks up his sleeve and after almost an hour of careful maneuvering he'd picked all the locks and flung the door open.

The smell of rotting flesh suddenly filled the air and Jiraiya swallowed bile for the second time that day. It was too dark to see in the room and this side of the mountain had lost power after the demon fox tore through all the electrical wiring so the Sannin could only imagine what lay beyond. Hiashi unfortunately could see it all.

"It's disgusting. There's got to be at least 50 kids hanging from the wall rotting. Some of them are deformed, I think all of them are dead," Hiashi spat venomously.

"No!" the Sannin cried out with despair. "That can't be right, are you sure?"

Jiraiya couldn't believe it. 50 kids? Could Orochimaru really be that cruel? Yes, of course he could, he'd seen with his own eyes the kind of horror's his former teammate could inflict on others in his quest for knowledge and immortality, so why was he having such trouble believing this?

He knew he was going to regret it for the rest of his life but he also couldn't stop himself from doing it.

"Senpou Goemon! (Hermit Art Boiling Oil) he shouted and the room lit up from his fire technique. Kami how he wished he'd just taken Hiashi's word for it. In front of him, hanging from metal shackles hammered into the stone wall were the at least 50 kids Hiashi had told him about. In various states of decomposition it was their bodies that were causing the repulsive smell that now filled the air.

Tears fell from Jiraiya's eyes as he thought about Orochimaru's departure and his inability to kill his old teammate. When it had come down to it neither he nor Tsunade had been able to finish off the snaky bastard. So in effect this was all his fault, the blood of these children was on his hands. If he'd just had the strength to take out his childhood friend when he'd had the chance none of this would have happened. About to leave the cave Jiraiya suddenly turned around and decided to burn it all to the ground. When Orochimaru returned to his hideout he would know Jiraiya had seen enough and was coming after him. After blowing a giant fireball into the room he left to join Hiashi in the hallway when he heard a choking coughing sound from it. Someone was still alive!

Hiashi had heard it too, before Jiraiya could put down the body of the young man the Hyuga had flown into the room Byakugan blazing in an effort to see through the smoke and rescue the poor kid inside. Jiraiya could see nothing inside the room, smoke poured out obscuring his vision completely and the crackling of the flames kept him from hearing anything. Minutes dragged on for what seemed like hours as the Sannin waited evermore impatiently for Hiashi to get out of blaze.

Finally the Hyuga emerged carrying a filthy little boy who was coughing and sputtering from smoke inhalation. His hair looked brown, it could have been blonde but it was impossible to tell for sure, it was matted down with dirt and possibly rotting body fluids from others. He was impossibly skinny and malnourished and it appeared to Jiraiya that his wrists were broken; a fact that Hiashi confirmed when he explained it had taken so long to find the boy in there he'd had to break his wrists to get him out of the shackles before he died from the fumes. Racing from the caves the two despondent shinobi rushed back to Konoha each with precious cargo in their arms. Hopefully they'd get back in time to insure Mount Iwao's survivors remained alive.

A/N: Sorry to only put up one section of the story but I felt like it was too long between updates and I wanted to get something out for those of you who continue to follow my story. I hope you'll understand and review. Let me know if you'd rather I wait next time until I've written all three or if I should just do one at a time if it keeps them coming out faster. Thank you for reading!


	31. We Only See It Go

Chapter 31 – We Only See It Go

1.

Bringing their captive back to Konoha was proving to be much more aggravating than Asuma had thought it would be when they captured the Sand ninja. It was true that the guy had been very forthcoming with his reasons for being within Fire borders and since he'd been apprehended he'd been respectful and cooperative; in short he was the most perfect prisoner anyone could have hoped for. Even the kids were proving to be less of a hassle than he'd thought they would be. As a general rule, Asuma was not a fan of children in any capacity. His opinion of the tiny sub-humans was that they were whiney, icky, sticky messes, that threw up and pissed and crapped their pants far too often for his liking, and those who were beyond the diaper stage of their lives could be counted on to have entered the annoying chattering stage of life, wherein they asked the most inane and useless questions one could think of. Asuma could honestly say he liked the chattering stage of life even less than he liked the shitting and pissing stage, at least when they filled their diaper all a person needed to do was change it and throw it out, and consider the problem solved. If the thing was babbling away about why the clouds looked like fluffy cotton balls or asking why potatoes didn't grow on trees the way apples did, it was infinitely harder to get it to shut up and consider the problem solved, because most of the time even if you solved the problem and told them why potatoes grew in the ground than they just came up with a new and different, yet equally absurd, question and you were never done. These Sand siblings though had yet to irritate him in any lasting manner.

The red headed baby just continued to curl tightly against Ebisu's chest, happily gurgling away and grasping his shirt close as if the glasses wearing shinobi might suddenly drop him (which Asuma was sure would never happen, the whiney little turd loved children as much as he himself despised them). The girl was walking quickly beside Kurenai saying little but staring in awe at the young ninja. Her big green eyes filled with admiration never left the kunoichi; drinking in every aspect of Kurenai's countenance. She drank in every word the older girl said and listened aptly to story after story of Konoha's powerful kunoichi and said very little other than to ask about weapons of jutsu. It was enough to make Asuma think she might not even be a real child, maybe it was a genjutsu and they were being fooled. He'd actually even stopped his flow of chakra at one point just to be sure it wasn't. The third child's name was Kankuro and as far as Asuma was concerned this kid was aces. The boy was only two years old and as such his vocabulary was very limited, however he managed to get his points across just fine and Asuma found him quite amusing. When they had decided Baki was no longer a flight risk, Kurenai had announced she would no longer be responsible for both kids and passed the boy over to Asuma, where he'd than made it clear that while Asuma might be a cool ninja he would much rather be carried by his teammate.

"No," Kankuro had stated as Asuma held him on his hip. Pointing back at Kurenai he'd told him, "I want pretty girl carry me. Not you."

Asuma had laughed and told him he was out of luck, and stuck with him. At this point the little guy had indicated that he would like to ride on his transporters shoulders; Asuma had obliged and the older sand ninja had explained that Kankuro only let girls hold him on their hips, with men he rode on their shoulders.

"He likes to be close to the ladies," Baki had shrugged.

Sitting upon Asuma's shoulders and knowing they were discussing him, Kankuro simply clapped his hands loudly and shouted, "Boobies!"

Asuma's aggravation with the task at hand lay not with their captives, but with his own team. Before the capture of the Sand ninja Kurenai had been either ignoring him or being rude to him, while Ebisu catered to her every whim and failed to intercede and stop the nonsense. It was a known fact that Ebisu was a "by the book" kind of ninja, he always followed protocol and frequently quoted passages from the ninja handbook, however on this trip the bastard had refused to mediate the dispute between his teammates as was specifically outlined in the damn thing, instead stating that he'd forgotten the book at home and could not recall anything on that particular subject. Asuma knew it was complete bullshit and Ebisu was doing the exact opposite of what the rules required, which was that he remain impartial and refuse to take sides against a teammate, but there was pretty much nothing he could do about it. To press the issue he would have to get Kurenai to help him call out Ebisu on the lack of protocol, which was impossible because she wasn't talking to him and the reason why it wasn't being followed in the first place. To that effect Asuma had sucked it up and marched silently along with his team while they attempted to collect survivors. Then they had come upon the sand refugees and suddenly everything got worse. Now instead of simply ignoring him, which both Ebisu and Kurenai continued to do most of the time(they had not even considered his opinion when they decided Baki was not a flight risk, Asuma had been of the mind that they bind the ninja and gag him so he couldn't call for any summoning if he'd had them, and upon hearing that Kurenai had laughed mockingly and told Ebisu to untie the man but leave chakra shackles on him), but they were openly disrespecting him in front of the prisoner and allowing the enemy to know the team now lacked cohesion. On top of that, Kurenai was openly flirting with the Sand ninja.

Walking beside her as they returned to Konoha, Baki chatted with her amiably and listened to her stories almost as raptly as Temari did. Asuma knew all her stories, and could tell you that there was no way they were that interesting, especially to a grown ass man; the guy was simply trying to get in her good graces so she would stick up for him during his meeting with the council when he requested asylum for himself and the children. In the meanwhile Kurenai was laughing and smiling at everything the overly tanned teenager said, and Asuma was sure the guy was not that funny. Kurenai was making a fool of herself over the foreign ninja and he couldn't wait to get home and call her out on it.

About five miles from home Kankuro knocked on his head, "I go potty."

"You need to go to the bathroom?" Asuma asked, reaching up to lift the boy off his shoulders and realizing that he was wrong.

"No! Hahaha… I GO potty!" The boy Asuma had once liked laughed hysterically as Asuma felt the flow of warm urine flowing down his back.

Up ahead of them a few paces Temari turned around.

"Eeewww! Konky is gross Baki! He did it again, and you told him that was bad," she shouted. "He gets punished now, heeheehee," she giggled viscously.

"Damn it Kankuro!" Baki reprimanded the boy, who had now been unceremoniously dropped to the ground. "What did I tell you? You are supposed to let us know when you need to use the bathroom."

Looking up sheepishly the brat answered, "I did."

"You are supposed to tell us BEFORE you go to the bathroom now that we ran out of your diapers."

"Hehehe… I forgot," the little devil looked up at his caretaker grinning wildly.

"I'm sorry," Baki said sincerely to the Konoha ninja, hoping the Fire ninja wouldn't injure the boy. "I've been working on getting him to tell me when he has to go, but as you can see he doesn't always remember, and sometimes he remembers and thinks it's funny to pee his pants. He's gotten me several times as well."

Asuma was mad enough to spit. The boy was still giggling madly at his feet, completely unaware of the fact that he was about to be throttled soundly and buried in a shallow grave, while Ebisu openly laughed right alongside him, and Kurenai smirked at him condescendingly. That was it, he'd kill them all, nobody would suspect him, he was their teammate after all and then he could blame it on the foreign ninja, whom he had to kill in self defense after the rest of his team had been murdered. He'd just make sure not to use any of his signature jutsu and nobody would be the wiser. They all deserved to die; he was going to bury the kid's right next to Kurenai and Ebisu right after—

"Ewwww, you stink, P.U." Temari loudly interrupted his thoughts. "Asuma-san you need a bath. Konky's pee stinks and now you do too."

Asuma closed his eyes and tried to will it all away. Of course he couldn't kill his team or the children but damn it he wanted to. They were all little shits.

"Here you go Asuma-san," Temari practically sang at him. "This will help; it's what Baki and I use when Konky gets us."

Calming himself down and opening his eyes, Asuma saw Temari holding up a bar of soap for him and smiling brightly. Behind her standing proudly was Kankuro, grinning boldly and completely sure of his own safety despite the fact that he'd just urinated on a foreign ninja who could easily have ended his life. If Asuma had been a Mist shinobi or even a Grass shinobi the boy would have been dead instantly, and suddenly Asuma was glad that he was a Leaf ninja. As angry as he was, he liked that the little bastards weren't cowering in fear, he liked that they hadn't once thought he would hurt them, and he even liked that Kankuro had thought it was a funny joke to pee on him; to him it meant that even though he was trained to kill he was still one of the good guys.

"There's a lake right through those trees, I'm gonna go get myself cleaned up," Asuma said.

"If you don't mind I'd like to come with you, I haven't been able to clean up really well since he got me last," Baki confessed.

Kurenai grimaced and Asuma chuckled, "Sure, come on down."

Asuma left his weapons up with Kurenai and Ebisu, as much as they were trusting Baki they couldn't do so completely until he'd been investigated and granted sanctuary by the Konoha council, and took Kankuro's dirty pants with him as Kurenai changed him into clean pants. While he would be unable to use jutsu as long as he wore the chakra shackles, there was no way to be sure he wouldn't pick up a sword and chop of Asuma's head when he was washing off. Down at the water both men stripped down to their underwear and began rinsing their clothes out in the water while using the soap to clean their bodies of the urine smell.

"Do you think I've got a shot at asylum?" the Sand ninja asked Asuma with honest concern.

"If everything you've told us is true than I'm pretty sure it won't be a problem. Konoha is pretty good at taking in strays," Asuma joked good naturedly.

"What will happen if they don't? Will we be imprisoned? Or extradited back to Suna?"

"I really don't know. I guess it depends on why they decided not to let you stay in the first place. If returning you is important for diplomacy with Suna than honestly you may be shit out of luck. Right now we're kind of in a bind, what with the Kyubi and all, so war with Suna is pretty much out of the equation. You could argue it the other way too though, we could use some more ninja right now and if we keep you around, in a few years we'll have four more. I'll vouch for you at the trial though, Ebisu probably will too, and it looks like you'll get Kurenai's testament too," Asuma said with a wink at the Sand shinobi, with all this bonding he was pretty sure Baki would tell him how annoying Kurenai was. Finally he'd have an ally on this trip.

"Yeah, I hope so," Baki said with a smile. "So what's her story? Is she single? You think if I get to stay I've got shot?"

Asuma almost choked. No way this guy was for real?

"You're interested in her? "

"How could I not be? She's gorgeous, and smart and funny, and I get the feeling she is probably a very strong kunoichi. She seems interested right? She's been laughing at my jokes; even the ones I don't think are funny."

"Pathetic, huh?" Asuma sneered. "Don't you find it annoying?"

"What?" Baki was flummoxed. "No, I don't think she's annoying at all. I think she's interesting to talk to and great to be around. If I get to stay, I'm going to try my best to take her out."

"Hehe, well good luck with that, I hope you have a lot of patience, she can get on your nerves."

"Thanks for the warning man; you know any wind jutsu to dry these clothes?"

Asuma dried out their clothes and the two of them joined the rest of the group for the walk home. Once again Kankuro rode on his shoulders, this time with the understanding that if he peed on him again he was going to have to walk the rest of the way. Ebisu and Gaara led the procession for the last five miles to Konoha, Kurenai, Temari, and Baki walked in the center, and he and the little pee pot brought up the rear. From his place in the chain he could clearly see and hear the conversation between Baki and Kurenai and it was starting to make him feel a bit sick. As he heard her laugh at the Sand ninja's half assed joke he remembered when she used to laugh at his jokes in much the same way, regardless of whether or not they were any good. He knew that when she laughed like that her right eye crinkled more than her left and her smile would be bright. Thinking about it, he missed when she would smile at him; she had a chip in her front tooth from an old training exercise where Ebisu had gotten her in the face with a rock jutsu. She was always self conscious about it but he'd still thought she had a beautiful smile, he was never sure if it was the smile that was so amazing or the fact that her eyes had sparkled when she looked at him and maybe she'd genjutsu'd him into thinking it was. Her bright girly giggle drifted his way and for the first time since kissing Nakamura Takara Sarutobi Asuma realized what an idiot he was.

2.

Orochimaru cursed his luck. Of all the times for the Kyubi to come back into his life it had to be while he was away. His mountain side hideaway was in pieces, his test subjects were dead, his labs destroyed, and his research stolen. Exceptional memory aside, the loss of his notebooks was catastrophic. Years of research had been compiled in them and now all of it was gone.

He had wanted to stop by and restock some supplies for his trip to Hoshigakure but returned to find his most frequented laboratory decimated by the might of the Kyubi and all of his supplies crushed or turned to ash. Now he would have rush to another location for his supplies, on top of which he would have to go to a much "hotter" area to do so. The closest location for what he needed was still on high alert from the last time he'd been spotted in the area and he was sure to run into more Hunter Nin than he wanted to deal with. However he couldn't take the chance that going to a safer location would waste too much time. If he wasn't there, Orochimaru had no doubt that Kakuzu would take his demon protégé and figure out the location of the meteorite on his own, cutting the Snake Sanin out of the equation completely (which wouldn't have really bothered him) and keeping him from discovering Kakuzu's secret to an exceptionally long life (which would have angered him beyond reproach).

What angered Orochimaru most though was not the difficulty of acquiring supplies, or the theft of his most precious data, or even the loss of his longest held laboratory. No, what bothered him the most about was that he knew exactly who had his data; the torched cavern that held project Senju was Jiraiya's calling card. That toad bastard would be back; Orochimaru didn't particularly worry about that, what bothered him was that for all his posturing about what a terrible human being Orochimaru was and how his experiments were immoral and depraved, the bastard had taken all of his work. Sure the man was so righteous and mighty on his high horse, but he still sought to learn from Orochimaru's work, he just wouldn't put the time in for himself. Jiraiya was still piggybacking on the hard work of others, and it pissed him the hell off. If he was as ethical and scrupulous as he claimed his old teammate would have burned it all, instead he took it, which proved he wasn't nearly as noble as he claimed.

Damn that demon for unearthing what he had long ago hidden so well. The loss of his experiments was devastating. The loss of his experiments to the hands of Jiraiya was worse. Judging from what was left of his hideout the fox had killed all of his research subjects except one, which Konoha must have taken after discovering. Subject 895 was a teenage boy with remarkable eyes and an amazing sea of chakra from which to pull. The boy would have made an amazing ninja and though he was loath to admit it, even to himself, could have bested Orochimaru in a fair fight. Luckily for Orochimaru he did not fight fair, and manipulated the boy into surrendering by holding two of his ally's hostage. He'd let the two weaker ninja go and immediately shackled the strongest in the event that he changed his mind. From there he'd run experiment after experiment on those eyes. On closer inspection it was clear to Orochimaru that they eyes had not originally been the boys and after much research his plan had been to steal them for himself once he'd proved they were indeed the legendary eyes he thought they were. Unfortunately it now looked like they were in the hands of his old village, if only this could have waited another week, than he'd have had the eyes himself and been unstoppable.

A/N: Thanks for reading, please review. More reviews equal more motivation, which leads to quicker and longer updates. Thanks again and I hope you are enjoying my story.


	32. The End is Near

Chapter 32 – The End is Near

1.

Anko shook in nervous anticipation. The Kyubi was on its' way back to Konoha. She cracked her fingernails and did her best not to smile beneath her porcelain mask. She'd been itching for a good fight and was anxious to show those who doubted her skill that she did deserve her spot in the ANBU. Intelligence reports had revealed the Kyubi was on a path for a direct collision with the Leaf Village, and as newly minted ANBU, she, Kakashi, and Obito had been assigned to the left flank of Konoha's defensive force. There were a good number of older ANBU who thought the three of them were too young and hadn't earned the right to wear the mask, namely Danzo and his cronies, and Anko was ready to put them in their places; after tonight she was sure nobody would doubt her again.

She had asked to be part of the Offensive strike force, but had been told she had been labeled too green for the offensive combat position. She however, was of the opinion that the powers that be had not wanted to break her three man cell up, and while Kakashi would have been able to make it on the offensive branch, it was definitely not a place for Obito yet. That was not to say she thought the Uchiha incompetent, while that may have been true in the beginning of their partnership, she, now believed him to be quite a remarkable ninja. No, the reason she thought Obito should not be on the front line had nothing to do with his skill as a shinobi and everything to do with his never ending desire to prove himself as good of a ninja as herself or Kakashi. It was well known throughout the lower ninja ranks that their team was one of the best and praise was frequently heaped upon them, and it could not be said that Obito did not share in this glory.

Unfortunately, Obito seemed to never have gotten the memo that he was just as much an integral part of the team as either her or Kakashi and that he had made ANBU on his own merit; if he hadn't, he wouldn't be wearing the mask. He seemed to be of the mind that he'd been granted his position because of his close ties to his team and that their influence had gotten him in, which had that been the case, Itachi would be standing next to them at that very moment rather than moping about in his rock garden. To make up for this, Obito was often reckless and daring in battle, with little thought for his life or that of his teammates, he rushed into danger with no thought of safety just to prove he could. So, at this point putting him on a squad in direct contact with the Kyubi was a sure fire one way ticket for their friend to find his way into a wooden box. Anko and Kakashi had agreed they were just not ready for that, and if it meant they lost their spot on the assaulting team they were glad to give it up and defend their home.

2.

Koharu closed her eyes in pain as Hiruzen sped away in the night on his heroic pursuit of glory, and her old heart broke inside her chest. Even if she knew it was the right choice for the village, watching her one true love leave her for the last time was painful in more ways than she had ever imagined. Though she had never allowed them the public relationship he had wanted so desperately, Koharu had loved him from the moment she'd seduced him with her dancing fans; nobody before or since had been able to swing a fan or their hips like she did, and that young man hadn't stood a chance. Had the Sarutobi clan not been so prolific and honorable she would have married him and born his children at the drop of a hat, consequences be damned, but they had been and she hadn't. She just couldn't bring herself to sully his own or the good name of his family. He was already engaged and promised to the fire daimyo's niece when she'd fallen in love with him, though she hadn't known it when she'd pulled out those fans. He had wanted nothing more than to end the engagement and marry her; but she'd forbidden it. The scandal and humiliation his family would have endured was too much for her to fathom and she'd refused him time and time again; what a mistake that seemed now. They were old and grey before they were together again, when his wife became ill and succumbed to fever, and even though their best years were behind them Koharu had enjoyed the last four years they'd spent together immensely. It felt like she'd just gotten him back, and here he was leaving again, this time forever.

Steeling her will, Koharu waited silently as the last tear fell from her eyes, dried her nose and set off to find the Fourth. She had a mission after all, and she'd be damned I she failed it now. She was a shinobi of Konoha long before she'd been a woman in love, and Konoha trumped all others.

3.

Kushina's heart leapt in joy as she bundled up her newborn son. Hiruzen had just left her and though his task was a somber one, it had brought a long forgotten happiness to her soul. It would be terrible to lose the Third; he had often been a kind shoulder to cry on, and had welcomed her into the village with open arms. However, losing him, as awful as it would be, meant that she was going to keep her Minato, and despite herself, she couldn't keep the smile off her face.

Trapping the Kyubi within her son was something she and Minato had fought long and hard over, though ultimately she had given in. She had seen that they could not ask if of anyone else's child if they would not permit it to their own, and even if she didn't want to give up her own son for the ritual she knew they had no other choice. So she'd gotten herself ready to protect her baby fiercely from the prejudicial attacks he was sure to endure without his father's position to shield him. Now though things could be different; now Minato would be there for all of it. Strapping Naruto to her chest securely Kushina jumped from her balcony out into the night and headed toward the burning inferno that marked the location of the Kyubi and the meeting spot for its end.


	33. Trapped in the Amber of the Moment

Chapter 33 – Trapped in the Amber of the Moment

1.

Tsunade looked around the cramped confines of the emergency medical arena, took stock of her current situation, and once again cursed Kami for her rotten luck. It was one thing to lose at the craps table or the slot machine, it was quite another to fail at life. At this particular moment in time she was supposed to be packed up and on the move again, traveling the world with Rin in tow. They should have been navigating their way across the continent, seeing new things, helping new people, and having new adventures they could use to block out the memories of her old and painful ones. Because as it was now, even her most treasured memories from the days of her youth were now tainted with the pain of what had come later.

Memories of her beautifully smiling baby-faced little brother that had once been joyful and evoked feelings of pride and an unrealistic hope for the future were now soul crushingly heartbreaking; infected with the poison of his pointless death there was absolutely no reason to drag them out. Once perfect memories of time spent with her fiancé Dan, back when they spoke often of their future children's names', the design of the house they would live in, and even the name for the dog they would have together had now grown painful and bittersweet from a long life lived without him in it. Even the happiest memories of her ninja career had managed to become corrupted. It was next to impossible to think of the satisfaction and elation she had felt upon earning her right to the title of Sannin without also feeling the sorrowful melancholy of Orochimaru's betrayal creeping in. This was why she was supposed to be well on her way out of Konoha and far out into the wide outdoors; not packed into the escape tunnels like a sardine in a can. It was also the reason she spent as little time as possible within the walls of Konoha.

Here in her very beloved (though she'd never admit it) home town, the heart of all her past memories; it was next to impossible to keep her gloominess in check. The fact that she was stuck down in the tunnels instead of out fighting the Kyubi was definitely not helping the cause. She had been convinced by Shizune that she should stay until after her protégé's jonin exam next month and told by her Hokage that her skills would be invaluable in helping to defeat the demon fox, a comment which basically meant if she didn't voluntarily stay and offer her support it would become an order; one he would have been embarrassed to give and which she would have felt shame in needing to receive it. So she had stayed, and here she was. Unfortunately once she had convinced herself that kicking some ass could be fun, and though she hadn't punched down a mountain in quite a while she still really loved to do so, the council decided she would best serve her village by staying hidden in the tunnels, out of harm's way, and fixing up the injured. Back deep behind the battle lines she would patch up the battered shinobi who were actually participating in this battle, get them back in fighting shape, and return them to the field. She also served a second function as babysitter to some of their more colorful guests; it didn't hurt to have one of their strongest ninja as a deterrent to any unsavory conduct and even those who didn't know her personally knew the reputation of the Slug Queen and remembered to be on their best behavior.

With all of Konoha's other heavyweights out battling with the nine-tails, Tsunade was their trump card if anything should go wrong in the city walls or if any of their visitors tried to pull off anything untoward. While it was her opinion that they all looked pretty harmless, sometimes it could be difficult to say for certain and it was best to err on the side of caution. As such, Konoha's greatest medic and highly skilled interrogator had decided to examine and interview their guests during lulls between patients. She told her assistant it was to better serve and protect the citizens of Konoha, but it had the added benefit of entertaining her slightly, and more importantly it would keep her mind off what had happened to her family the last time she had found herself in this cave system.

She had begun her questioning with Baki, the sand ninja who she determined to be at least a jonin and probably even ANBU level in strength based on the well developed chakra coils she found during her scan. As far as she could tell through the monitoring of his body temperature and speed of his heartbeat throughout his interrogation, he had answered honestly about fleeing Sand to protect the children in his care. Apparently they had needed protecting from a maniacal father and due to a promise he made their departing mother on her death bed, he'd had no choice but to flee the city, and she believed his desire to seek asylum with the Leaf was genuine. Though most asylum seeking ninja chose to become civilians rather than fight their former allies, Baki had gone so far as to suggest, in an unassuming yet exceedingly hopeful tone, that he would swear his allegiance to the Fire daimyo if it meant he could someday be a ninja again.

"Tsunade-sama, please tell me truthfully. Do you think there is even the slightest chance I'll be allowed to be a shinobi again someday?" he'd asked her sorrowfully. "I don't know how to be anything else."

Touched by his forlorn expression her heart had broken for him, "I don't see why not. Stranger things have certainly happened, and we haven't been at war with Wind in quite a long time."

Seeing his face light up from the small words of encouragement pleased her and she smiled kindly at him as he continued speaking.

"I hate to ask anything more, Konoha has already far exceeded any of my expectations. But I wanted to express my gratitude; everyone here has treated me with respect and shown me more hospitality and courtesy than I could have ever hoped to receive in a foreign hidden village. I know for certain that no such liberties would have been given to a Leaf ninja captured by the Sand, especially one captured in the land of Wind. My hope is that one day I will be able to repay this kindness by putting my services toward the protection of your village."

Tsunade smiled at the young man again, it did her heart good to hear such kind words spoken about her home. Feeling generous, she decided to provide him with some guidance.

"Baki, I'm going to give you some advice, because despite my disinterest in almost everything and everyone, I like you. You seem like a nice kid. So when you get your asylum hearing and you go before the council to plead your case, make sure you don't lie at all; not even a little white one. Konoha is home to the greatest mind raping clan across the globe, and make no mistake, they will find out your lie, punish you accordingly, in a way that I promise you, you will not enjoy, and you will forever be branded untrustworthy in Konoha. Which means it's for life, got it?"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama, no lies will pass these lips," Baki had answered. The Sannin patted him on the back and moved on to her next biggest concern; the nearly comatose patient with the silver ringed eyes. When he'd first been brought in she'd thought the boy's eyes to be black, but now that he'd been healed slightly and cleaned up a bit, it was evident that they had in actuality been clotted with blood from all the damage Orochimaru had inflicted on his eyes during his "research," and their natural hue had been masked. She had never seen eyes such as his, she had of course heard the stories about them (you would be hard pressed to find anyone who grew up in a ninja village who hadn't) but they were believed to be myths, and she had never really thought twice about them. However since this so-called legend was now staring her in the face with an awful sneer she supposed it was time to stop referring to him as just a fairy-tale.

Upon waking up the boy had taken one look at their forehead protectors, scowled menacingly, and begun asking for Jiraiya as he flitted in and out of consciousness. How he knew her toad summoning teammate she had no idea. The bastard hadn't mentioned knowing the boy at all when dropping him off unceremoniously in the infirmary prior to heading out to help battle the demon, but not before smirking and winking at his pissed off teammate. Mr. Silver Eyes had refused to talk, which made her decision to keep him heavily sedated until Jiraiya's return all the less difficult. Rumors of the rinnegan's power had her slightly nervous to leave him awake, and his somewhat hostile demeanor had not done him any favors. She handed off his chart to one of the chunin medics on duty with instructions to have him tranquilized immediately.

Moving on to her next patients she found the two boys, Shin and Sai, that Shiranui Genma's squad had brought in. They were playing in the corner with the young girl Maito Gai had introduced as Tsuchi Kin. It was clear from her behavior over the past few days that the girl obviously been traumatized by the ordeals she had faced. She was skittish around all adults but even more so around men, with the exception of Gai, who she continually requested to see. Surprisingly enough she seemed to be doing better while in the company of the younger boys, who had taken a liking to her and volunteered to look after her. Five year old Shin was beaming wildly as he promised to protect her with his life, while two year old Sai clapped his approval. All three children had actually been citizens of Fire country and after speaking with them for a bit she determined them to be no threat to security and left them to their own devices, secure in the fact that one day they would make fine ninja, no more screwed up than any of the others.

The other rescue from Orochimaru's lair was still too badly injured to wake up. Under Shizune's guidance, chunin level Yamanaka's had been working with him in his sleep to restore some sanity to his shattered mind. It was hoped that when his body was actually physically able to wake up, his mind would be able to handle it. From what the Yamanaka's had gathered so far, it appeared the boy's name was Tenzou and he'd been kept awake with amphetamine's while the other children around him were mutilated, mutated on their own, and all eventually died from Orochimaru's experiments. He was the lone survivor of the Snake sannin's research into recreating her grandfather's DNA and jutsu in another shinobi; a fact that sickened her to no end. Once the demon fox was taken care of, Tsunade was going to make it her personal mission to destroy that monster.

Finally, having saved the best for last, she moved onto her last three (and not to mention her most favorite) wards. Out of the three she most adored little Temari, the tiny little girl was loaded with enough piss and vinegar to give the Sannin herself a run for her money. From the moment she'd heard Tsunade was a kunoichi she hadn't stopped telling her about how one day she was going to be a fabulous shinobi herself. Tsunade had no doubt in her mind that she would be, she was even secretly hoping it would be for the Leaf village where she would thrive, Sand was well known as a terrible place to be a kunoichi. She got the little spitfire to sit still long enough to get some blood, test her chakra coils and run a basic scan. The development of her chakra pathways was coming along nicely, a fact that thrilled Temari; she was perfectly healthy and fit to start pre-school when things got back to normal.

As a last minute thought Tsunade decided to test Baki's story against that of Temari's, the little girl wouldn't lie because she had as yet found no reason to.

"Temari-chan," she asked. "Why did you leave your village?"

"Because that big stupid man was going to take me and Konky away from Baki-san."

"Oh?" Tsunade replied. "Why was he going to take you away?"

"Because he's a big stinky head, and he was mad that Baki yelled at him when he punched me across the room. It didn't hurt me though, you know. I'm going to be a ninja and punches don't hurt ninjas," Temari answered with big eyes. Tsunade could tell the girl was lying about the punch not hurting, she'd just wanted her idol to believe she would make a good ninja; regardless, the little girl's story backed up Baki's tale and Tsunade felt satisfied.

Kankuro was a bit more trouble. The boy was extremely shy while at the same time being quite squirmy and very clingy. No matter where she put him he wound u p with his arms and legs wrapped tightly around her and his face buried in her chest to hide from everyone; he was a great avoider of eye contact. She had dislodged him several times to no avail; the boy was a leech. After an exorbitantly long time had been spent trying to run a chakra scan on him Tsunade requested her nurse get Baki for assistance with the child. As she began peeling the boy from her body one more time she hear a loud, "Kankuro NO!" from the doorway, and the boy instantly released her.

Looking up Tsunade was about to scold the ninja for scaring the little guy when she noticed the rascal was sitting there grinning from ear to ear; obviously quite proud of himself.

"I'm so sorry, Tsunade-sama," Baki stammered. "I had no idea he would behave so badly."

Tsunade looked and felt confused, "Well he's not really bad, just a little shy is all. He likes to hide so he doesn't have to see anyone. Isn't that right, Kankuro?"

Baki began to answer, "He's not shy at all miss, it's just that he –"

But the ninja was cut off by Kankuro himself.

"Boobies!" he shouted as he once again hugged the well endowed medic. Tsunade's face flushed red as she pushed the boy away and called for a male medic to do the scan. He too turned out quite fine and Tsunade moved on to her final guest.

The red headed baby boy was currently being cuddled and rocked to sleep by one of the nurses. Since arriving, the boy had become a favorite of the staff and he had reveled in all the attention he was getting. Latching on to anyone who picked him up and gurgling happily from their arms; he was practically impossible not to fall in love with. After bringing him in, Ebisu was down visiting him every chance he could, having become enchanted with the brightly colored baby on their trip into town. As for Gaara himself he loved everyone, and everyone loved him right back; how could they not? Since his arrival he hadn't cried even once, he just smiled and giggled at everyone around him, he was just a delightful little baby.

Tsunade took the infant from the wet nurse currently cooing and ahhing over him and brought him into the examining room to place him on the table. She took his temperature and then placed her hand on his chubby little belly to begin her scan. Her light green healing chakra funneled down her arm and reached out for the baby when suddenly an angry dark blue chakra snaked up at her sending her flying across the room and the baby began kicking, screaming, and crying for the first time since his arrival.

"Get Baki in here now!" Tsunade shouted as she looked at the now sobbing baby. Things had changed rather suddenly, and Baki had some serious explaining to do.

2.

Koharu's mission had goals of distraction, delay, and deterrent; a roll she was now well suited for. While old age had slowed her body and stolen her good looks, it hadn't yet made her mind feeble, not even a tiny bit. In fact, time had granted her remarkable acumen into the human psyche, and great experience in manipulation, not to mention a much higher degree of respect from Konoha's ninja, with a much sought after seat on the village council to boot. All were tools she intended to put to great use this night. Indeed, tonight she intended to use Minato's impeccable manners against him and accomplish what his wife could not. Konoha's fourth Hokage, the Yellow Flash, their Light in the darkness of war, would not be marching to his death on her watch. In fact if all went to as planned he wouldn't be a part of the battle until long after the demon had been taken care of.

Her first order of business was interception. Knowing Minato had gone to the Hokage's private library to fetch the supplies he needed for the task he meant to complete this evening (supplies she was well aware would not be there as a certain other Hokage had already taken them) Koharu rushed to conceal herself in the shadows of the tower to await his departure. Not more than five minutes after her arrival he came rushing out the main entrance; completely distracted by the fact that his very important and much needed supplies were nowhere to be found, he failed to notice as she sent her chakra racing through her legs and raced over to collide with him on the tower steps.

3.

With Teruo's extreme inadequacy as a ninja resulting in the death of Tadeshi and his own suspension Makoto had been left bereft of a squadron and had to be reassigned. Her new partners were Haruno Arato, a pale haired jonin, Umino Kohaku and Umino Yuka; a sweet married couple with an adorable young son who just a few moments ago had been forcibly removed from the battlefield that he had just snuck on to. It was quite unusual to be working with a married pair of shinobi, and damn near impossible for both parents of a child to be assigned to the same squad, however due to the extreme shortage of high level shinobi still able to fight they didn't have the luxury of being able to adhere to the policies used to ensure the families were kept intact. Children in ninja villages were frequently left orphans at an early age; Konoha had seemingly bucked the trend by instituting some family friendly policies that had traded in orphans for an increased number of single parent households. Makoto said a silent prayer that all four of them would return home to their families and they leapt with cat like grace into the trees above. Ready for another round with the monster, they moved silently through the treetops in hopes of taking the beast by surprise.

The nine tails was currently 20 miles southwest of Konoha. Attack Squad 1, led by Makoto's husband had managed to drive the demon out of the small vacation city, Otafuku Gai. He, Akado Kuo, Hyuga Tokumo, and Aburame Muto had run on ahead when master Jiraiya had Hiashi had stopped to search Orochimaru's lair. Through a concentrated series of bombardments the squad had managed to attract the Kyubi's attention away from the blinking buzzing lights of the casino's. From there they had acted as bait and lured her out of the more populated areas and into a small valley that lay 50 miles outside the hotel town.

After Jiraiya and Hiashi had dropped off their discoveries they had raced back after their comrades, the Sannin took over as captain of Attack Squad 2, adding Hiashi to finish off the four man squad with Rock Haruko and Yamanaka Santa. The two attack squads had managed through a myriad of chakra saving maneuvers that consisted of quick guerilla type hits to the demon and a disappearance into the background while the alternate team took their turn to attack. It was a long and arduous process but the only thing that could work against such a powerful foe; any head on encounter would have ended in the destruction of both squads as well as their back-up chunin counterparts.

Now however, the beast was right where they wanted it. Their Hokage had instructed them to lead it into the valley and now it was the responsibility of Makoto and her squad to lead the defensive attack and keep the flame wielding monster there. As insurance, ANBU defensive squads lined the trees 10 miles smack in the middle between the valley and the town.

Armed with competent allies and the fierce determination of a mother lion protecting her cubs, Makoto's team was once again going to use a chakra net to ensnare the beast. She had fought against it, superstitious as she was, the Uchiha captain thought it was bad luck to use a technique that had gotten a teammate killed already, however the other three members of her squad had won out. In the end she'd been forced to admit it was the best idea to accomplish their goal without exhausting all of their resources before Minato had arrived. They only needed to keep it ensnared long enough for him to use his new technique and destroy the damn thing; a feat they all had complete faith he would accomplish.

The lead defense squad members were all successfully positioned in the tree branches when Attack Squad 1 came fleeing past them through the valley on their way to the ambush location. Fugaku leapt backwards through the trees, his sharingan the only thing keeping him from missing footholds and plummeting to the ground, his great fireball technique blazing as it shot across the treetops and towards their target, the giant red fox. She roared loudly in anger as the fireball exploded into the right side of her face, knocking her slightly off kilter and angering her even further; the landscape shook with her rage. As she took a wild swing at Makoto's husband, Hyuga Tokumo hit the demon's left cheek with an Eight Trigrams Mountain Crusher strong enough to knock her back the other way and cause her to miss Fugaku completely. As Aburame Muto's kikaichu swarmed the beast and Akado Kuo's Chakura Kyuin technique both began siphoning its chakra from the shadows, Fugaku and Tokumo faded into the trees. The Kyubi shook her great head in disgust, drew her body up to her full height; tall and centered, she threw her gaping maw to the sky and bellowed her fury to the heavens.

Makoto noticed her beginning to suck in an unusually large amount of air and activated her sharingan. Positive black chakra, the devastating Purasu no Kuro, and negative white chakra, a calamitous amount of Mainasu no Shiro, were gathering together in an enormously disastrous magnitude and beginning to swirl together in a spherical shape. The center of the giant mass had begun compressing when she realized what it was she was looking at. Ino-Shika-Cho's fact finding squad had briefed them all on the tailed beast's ultimate attack, the Bijudomo, but until now she had never seen it use one. Deciding that she'd like to keep it that way she leapt into action; ordering the chakra net into place.

The net dropped, but it was a bit too late. The Bijudomo blasted from its' jaws and slammed into the now complete net. Makoto, Kuhako, Yuka, and Arata all stumbled to their knees at the force of the blow, yet somehow they had managed to keep a hold on their trap and it remained intact with a shrieking beast inside it. Had the net been composed of just three shinobi it would have shattered from the force of the explosion; the fourth teammate had provided enough chakra to hold it. How long they could manage to keep it that way as yet remained to be seen. The demon was clawing and snapping at the bonds that held it and all four of them had practically exhausted all of their chakra reserves consuming the discharge of the Bijudomo. Makoto prayed Minato would arrive in time.

Unfortunately before he could appear the nine tails released a sonic roar that ripped its way across the net and shredded it to pieces. The four defense squad members slumped to the ground from chakra exhaustion; containing the Bijudomo had been quite costly. Realizing the locations of her captors, the Bijou charged toward them. With Kuhako and Yuka between her and the fox Makoto realized they were about to be torn apart as Tadeshi had and she surged to her feet to try and protect them. She jumped forward only to feel herself be torn backwards in mid-air as Attack Squad 2's leader Jiraiya held her by the arms and pulled her close. Makoto's outraged scream of anguish tore across the field as she watched the demon gruesomely destroy two more of her teammates. She struggled to get loose of the Sannin's grip to no avail.

"You can't help them now," he barked at her. "All you'll do is join them if you keep that up in the state you're in. I'm sending you back to the village."

"No," she sobbed. "We need to hold it here. Hokage-sama is coming."

"Well you won't be here to see it," he told her calmly before everything turned black and the Uchiha succumbed to exhaustion.

4.

Hiruzen raced across Konoha's rooftops toward the valley holding the Kyubi and tried hard not to get distracted and caught up in the beauty surrounding him. Twice he'd caught himself slowing to look at his village hidden in the Leaves as it basked in the glow of the moon. His people were dying, he couldn't afford to waste time, even if it was the last time he'd see his beautiful city. Holding back his tears, Konoha's third Hokage said goodbye to his beloved home for what would be the last time.

A/N: Sorry to take so long to update, please review and let me know what you think. Thank you!


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